• • • THE AFFIRMATIONS OF HUMANISM: II A STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES*

We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems. We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outsicfe nature for salvation. We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life. We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities. We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state. We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual under- standing. We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance. We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves. We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual ori- entation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity. We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suf- fering on other species. We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest. We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence. We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual pref- erences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity. We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences. We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion. We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences. We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos. We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking. We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others. We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfish- I ness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality. We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings. *by Paul Kurtz

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free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org B EDITORIAL WOMEN AND 5 The Secular RELIGIONS Humanist • 30 The Awakening Prospect: of a Jehovah's In Historical free inquiry• Witness Perspective Diane Wilson Paul Kurtz OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2003 VOL. 23, NO.4 ISSN 0272-0701 34 Islam and the o P-ED Liberation of 9 The Day Women in the Religion Died Middle East Guy Harrison Azam Kamguian

12 Now Here's a 37 Acknowledging Bright Idea! Humanist Women Richard Dawkins Vern L. Bullough

The Bright Stuff 39 The Real Danger 14 Behind the Daniel C. Dennett Christian Right Wendy Kaminer 15 Bush and the Theory of Moral Relativity Norene Kelly DEPARTMENTS 7 Letters 17 On Debating Massimo Pigliucci 18 Frontlines 42 Church-State Update . FEATURES Can State Funds Support Divinity WHO BEARS Studies? THE BLAME Tom Flynn FOR NAZISM? 43 World Report 20 The Great Islam: Cage It or Scandal Unravel it? Gregory S. Paul Bill Cooke - BOOK REVIEWS 44 Great Minds August Comte 51 Science and 53 The Atheist: Tim Delaney Religion-Are Madalyn Murray O'Hair They Compatible? By Bryan F. LeBeau 46 Applied Ethics Edited by Paul Kurtz Bill Cooke An Odd Crop of Stuart Jordan Agnostics 54 This Far by Faith Robert M. Price 52 Rescuing Reason: Executive Producer Dante James " A Critique of Norm R. Allen, Jr. .o. /1'1" oWI./Oflc1Secular Humanism, a nonprofit educational Paul Kurtz corporation, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226. Phone (716) Robert Alley Editor 636-7571. Fax (716) 636-1733. Copyright ©2003 by the Professor of Humanities Emeritus, Thomas W. Flynn Council for Secular Humanism. All rights reserved. No part of Univ. of Richmond, Virginia this periodical may be reproduced without permission of the Managing Editor Deputy Editor Hector Avalos Andrea Szalanski Norm R. Allen, J f. publisher. Periodicals postage paid at Buffalo, N.Y., and at Associate Professor of additional mailing offices. National distribution by Columnists Religious Studies, Vem Bullough, Richard Dawkins, International Periodicals Distributors, Solana Beach, Iowa State University Ronnie Dugger, Nar Henroff California. FREE INQUIRY is indexed in Philosophers' Index. Christopher Hitchens, Wendy Kaminer, Joe E. Barnhart Tibor R. Machan, Massimo Pigliucci, Printed in the United States. Postmaster: Send address Professor of Philosophy, Peter Singer changes to FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226- North Texas State University Senior Editors 0664. 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Stenger Staff Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Par Beauchamp, John Gaeddert, University of Hawaii Sandy Lesniak, Georgeia Locurcio, ~ Jennifer Miller, Lisa Nolan, Edward Tabash Anthony Santa Lucia, Heidi Shively, Civil Liberties Attorney, John Sullivan, Vance Vigrass !iiIL!J Chair, Center for Inquiry-West Executive Director Emeritus Jean Millholland Visit Free Inquiry's Web site at http://www.secularhumanism.org free inquiry http://www. secularh umanism .org •• EDITORIAL PAUL KURTZ IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

ecular humanism holds great promise for the future of humankind. But disturbing changes • have occurred in recent years, particularly in II Sthe United States, that make its promise harder to fulfill. The cultural wars no doubt will con- free inquiry tinue to intensify. Though we have made progress-as recent Supreme Court decisions testify-we face unremitting challenges to the secular humanist out- look. If I can flash back more than half a century, clearly most political and intellectual leaders of that time were sympathetic to scientific naturalism and humanism. I vividly remember John Dewey's ninetieth birthday cel- ebrations in 1949 (Dewey was then the leading American humanist philosopher). One such event was attended by the president of Columbia University (and future president of the United States), General Dwight D. Eisenhower. I recall Eisenhower declaring in admiration: "Professor Dewey,you are the philosopher of freedom, and I am the soldier of freedom." Can we even imagine a soon-to-be U.S. president so praising a humanist intellectual today? In those days, thoughtful Americans had great confidence in the United Nations and its efforts to transcend nationalism and build a world community.We sought to develop insti- tutions of international law and a world court, enhancing our ability to negotiate differ-

The 1970s marked a high point of humanism's influence-at least in the United States.

ences based on collective security. Emerging from the Second World War,Americans dis- played a strong desire to go beyond ancient rivalries, accompanied by confidence in the ability of science to understand nature and to solve human problems. In 1973, I edited a book called The Humanist Alternative: Some Definitions of Humanism.' In this book I observed that the twentieth century had been proclaimed to be the Humanist Century; many of the then-dominant philosophical schools-natural- ism, phenomenology, existentialism, logical positivism, and analytic philosophy-were in a broad sense committed to the humanist outlook. The same was true of humanistic psychology and the social sciences in general. Indeed, I raised this question, "Is every- one a humanist?" For no one wanted to be known as antihumanist. I mean, who want- ed to be antihuman? Heady with the momentum of Vatican II, Pope Paul VI even declared that Roman Catholicism was "a Christian humanism." The only authentic humanism, he proclaimed, "must be Christian." Interestingly, it was also in 1973 that John D. Rockefeller, the scion of the Rockefeller family,published a book called The SecondAmerican Iieuolution? For Rockefeller, the second American Revolution would be a humanist moral revolution; he declared that capitalism needed to have a human face. Similarly, noted Marxists in Eastern Europe at that time claimed that their Marxism was basically humanist.

Paul Kurtz is editor-in-chief of FREE INQUIRY, professor emeritus of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and chair of the Center for Inquiru.

II http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 In the early 1970s, I was invited to humanist outlook was important. And Fathers. Jefferson, Madison, Washington, Washington, D.C.,on more than one occa- indeed, many of that era's intellectual and Franklin were humanists and ratio- sion. I recall attending a reception at Mrs. leaders of thought and action were nalists by the standards of their day, heav- Dean Acheson's house and meeting, humanists: B.F. Skinner, Albert Ellis, ily influenced by the Enlightenment. How among others, Hubert Humphrey. I had Herbert Muller,A.H. Maslow,Carl Rogers, different is the national tone today. We been a strong supporter of Mr.Humphrey. Thomas Szasz, Jonas Salk, Joseph hear calls for the nation to become more I was the editor of the Humanist maga- Fletcher, Betty Friedan, Sidney Hook, religious; we see unremitting attempts zine at that time; Mr. Humphrey read my Rudolf Carnap, wv. Quine, and Ernest to breach the separation of church and nametag and said to me, "Oh, Paul Kurtz! Nagel come to mind. Many leaders in the state, such as the financing of faith-based How nice to see you! Ah, the Humanist Black community were humanists, not charities. Since the tragedy of 9/11, the magazine, what a great magazine! I wish ministers, such as James Farmer, Bayard momentum of change has accelerated. I had time to read HI" Walter Mondale, Rustin, and A. Philip Randolph; they The so-called PATRIOT Act and the who was later to become vice president of worked hard for minority rights. Human- relentless pursuit of "Homeland Security," the United States, and many other people ism and modernism were considered syn- I submit, are drastically undermining civil identified approvingly with humanism.' onymous. In one sense the 1970s marked liberties. Indeed, in a very real sense humanism a high point of humanism's influence-at The United States is the preeminent was the dominant intellectual theme on least in the United States. scientific, technological, economic, and the cultural scene. On another occasion, I Now,I raise these points because there political power of the world, far outstrip- was invited to Washington by Senator has been a radical shift today, particular- ping any other nation. Today the military Edward Kennedy (who was planning to ly in the United States. Let me focus for a budget of the United States is virtually run for the presidency). I spent a weekend moment on this country, because of its equal to that of the rest of the world com- at Sargent Shriver's home. His wife, enormous influence in today's world. bined. Why has America's former idealism Eunice Shriver, was one of the Kennedys. America is undergoing a fundamental on behalf of democracy and human rights I also visited the home of Mrs. Robert transformation, one which in my view declined, to be replaced by militant chau- Kennedy. Everyone thought that the betrays the ideals of the Founding (Continued on page 47)

A chill wind has blown through American public life since 9/11. There has been a social and religious "circling of the wagons" - a rising hostility to dissent. Some A Bold observers have raised the specter of a looming "religious McCarthyism." Inquiring critics who pose tough questions about society, faith, and traditional values face greater New Step risk than at any time in recent decades. At the same time, for -----'---, an increasingly homogeneous and corporatized media landscape makes it more difficult for queries and criticism rooted in alternative viewpoints to be heard . Dissent is precious. No less precious are the arenas • in which unpopular ideas can be aired. We felt that it was necessary for FREE INQUIRY to appear more frequently so that secular and humanistic dissent can maintain its • access to the marketplace of ideas. free inquiry And so we embark on this new phase in the life of our magazine. We hope that our move to bimonthly publication erhaps you noticed the cover date: not Fall, but will make FREE INQUIRY more timely, more useful and October-November. Beginning with this issue, FREE appealing to secular humanists, and better able to attract PINQUIRY will be published bimonthly instead of new readers on newsstands. (For technical reasons our quarterly. For the first time in its twenty-three-year pub- newsstand price actually drops by $1, which should induce lishing history, FI will appear six times yearly. This will curious readers to try us more readily.) We are heartened enable us to respond more quickly to events and to offer by the success our sister publication, the Skeptical more timely commentary. It will help us to express the sec- Inquirer, enjoyed when it went bimonthly in 1994. ular humanist outlook more effectively. At this important moment, we pause to thank our FREE INQUIRY is already the best-known magazine of readers and supporters who have enabled FREE INQUIRY its kind in the world. We wish to extend its reach. Going to survive, to grow, and to have its impact on contempo- bimonthly is a big step; among other things, it means 50 rary life. More than ever, it is imperative that we who percent more deadlines. It also means 50 percent more strive to live morally and humanely without religion have printing and postage bills. (By contrast, our subscription a publication that represents our community and reflects price is increasing by less than 8 percent.) Given the flat our concerns. economy, some might think it foolhardy to raise our pub- Starting now, that publication will appear 50 percent lishing frequency at this time. There is no question that it more frequently. Thank you for making the leap with us. is a gamble - but one we believe must be made. - The Editors

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org II A very interesting What if?, but one men, women, and children in those two completely devoid of realistic expecta- major cities proved to be the humanists' tion given the ferocious resistance of the worst nightmare. If humanism in the American people to foreign wars. It took twenty-first century is to become the shock of the fall of France to get Gordon's or Wall's humanism, then the enough gumption up to start rebuilding outlook for the rest of us is quite bleak our military in a quick hurry. The end indeed. result of that initial effort was to field a Barry F. Seidman two ocean navy, a thirty-five-division Boonton, New Jersey army, with air forces to match by April 1942 ... too late for preemptive action. Gordon S. Fowkes I am concerned about the focus of FI on Lt. Col., U.S. Army (Retired) the political issue of our invasion of Sugarland, Texas Iraq; to me the moral issues are murky at best. Kurtz's lengthy response to the negative reactions to the anti-war edito- The editors of FREE INQUIRYexhibited rial didn't convince me of his position. fair play by publishing four pro-war let- In my view, the war against Sad dam ters-to-the-editor in the Summer 2003 Hussein was fought for humanist prin- issue. Kudos! However, it must be point- ciples and values. Muslim theocra- ed out that at least two of those letters cies threaten our freedom to inquire far The Debate consisted of highly dubious claims. more than Bush's theocracy, which, so Robert Gordon attempted to argue the far, is still constrained by the Con- Rages On warmonger's "fall-back card"-the Nev- stitution. Terrorists attacked our home- ille Chamberlain issue. But this is a fal- land, our private citizens, and peaceful The editorial "The Immomlity of War lacious argument because it assumes visitors from around the world, our Against Iraq" by FI's editors ap- that Sad dam was comparable to Hitler commercial airline system, our office peared in the Spring 2003 FI. In the in scope, power, means, and ambition. buildings and centers of commerce, our Summer issue we published several Comparing Bush's preemptive strike Defense Department buildings. They al- letters and op-eds in response. Below against a devastated and disarmed Iraq most destroyed the home and office of the discussion continues=Eos. to Hitler's highly organized, highly fund- our president and his family and staff in ed, and massively powerful Germany is it. They crippled our government, and I was astounded to read two letters in quite ludicrous. they crippled our economy by imposing FREEINQUIRYinresponse to Paul Kurtz's As for Peter Wall, Paul Kurtz's argu- fear on our people. Their actions initi- opposition to preemptive war/strikes in ments about the immortality of war in ated the infamous PATRIOT Act. They which both writers, Robert M. Gordon Iraq were indeed not wholly subjective showed no effort to resolve differences and Peter Wall, stated that Hitler could if one is to make moral and ethical deci- without violence; in fact, it is their reli- and should have been stopped by an sions informed by secular humanism. In gion to violently eliminate all who American preemptive strike. fact, I find it an oxymoron to claim one are not Muslim. They have no interest It's not clear when such a preemptive is a secular humanist while still back- strike should have taken place, but pre- ing Bush's attack of Iraq. Furthermore, in secular nationhood or membership sumably sometime between the summer Kurtz was not arguing pacifism, but in the United Nations. Saddam Hus- of 1939 and the summer of 1941, during was instead arguing for the application sein led a government based on "ideolo- which time the Soviets were allied with of humanist ethics to this particular gies of violence" and supported those Germany. Notwithstanding the tenuous invasion. extremists. We are in World War III a- nature of said alliance, the United Additionally, that Mr. Wall was argu- gainst religious criminals, and Presi- States didn't have anything but its Navy ing against humanism was made most dent Bush has already declared war on in any condition to pose a substantive clear when he rhetorically asked if it every country that doesn't help in that threat to anyone. was "callous disregard for human life fight within their own borders. What It is hard to even imagine a naval that led to using nuclear bombs (on else can we do since "no deity will save operation during that time frame that Japan)." Of course it was! Combining us; we must save ourselves"? Isn't that could have done anything remotely the reality that the "official story," what President Bush is trying to do- effective against Hitler. The addition of which purports that bombing Hiro- save us from terrorist destruction? If the U.S. Navy to the Allied cause could shima and Nagasaki was necessary to you know a better approach, tell us in not have prevented the Blitzkriegs end World War II and save American concrete, not moralistic terms. against either Poland or France. It lives, has been shown to be false on We put terrorists on the run in World might have tilted the course of the war many "fronts" (a fact Wall does not War II. Let's keep it that way in the Mediterranean, at the expense of seem to be aware of), with the reality of Ron Herman any Far East adventures. the wholesale murder of thousands of Albuquerque, New Mexico

a http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 Paul Kurtz replies: baya' campfire singers" and myopic paci- containing nothing of great value, fists (never mind that enlightened people England could afford to surrender them I think that the position of the editors will treat dissent with maturity rather gracefully. But the example shows that, against the war in Iraq in the Spring than insults). when provoked by dictatorships, democ- 2003 FREEINQUmywas eminently co- I submit that a truly enlightened racies will sometimes fight even when gent. Those def"ending the preemptive nation would see the hypocrisy in a uni- doing so is foolish. strike maintained that Iraq was an lateral invasion of Iraq in the name of So, how should democracies respond imminent threat to the United States democracy. Enlightened thinkers know to Islamic fanaticism? If we believe the and/or Great Britain because of its that such invasions only serve to multiply fanatics will never change, then I sup- "weapons of mass destruction." It is our terrorist enemies. We must first try pose the only option is to exterminate now several months since the incep- to understand the reasons behind terror- them. Otherwise, perhaps steps can be tion of the Wa1;and such weapons have ism, and in doing so acknowledged that taken to hasten their enlightenment. yet to be uncovered. We recommended we are not merely innocent victims. Hirsch's message is uncomfortably that the United Nations should have Mason Tromblee close to "Exterminate them or be exter- been used in continuing inspections Atlanta, Georgia minated." How does that demonstrate (they found none prior to the war). The moral superiority? United States does not have the Eckhard Festag resources to intervene anywhere and Steve Hirsch's distinction between Berkeley; California everywhere on the planet; nor does it Enlightenment and anti-Enlightenment occupu the high moral around to justi- nations makes it seem that, once a fy any and every intervention. Weare nation falls into one of the two cate- While there is much to comment on in not pacifists. Houieuer; uiar should gories, it can never change. Steve Hirsch's article, I will restrict my only be a last resort and only after But history is an arena of change. remarks to one section in particular: other alternatives have been explored. Countries that fall into the Enlighten- "Third-world fetishism and envy of the In (JUrjudgment this was not the case ment column today can turn against the United States' affluence and power are in regard to Iraq. Moreover, the U.S. Enlightenment tomorrow, or vice versa. largely to blame, but more important, military was not welcomed as libera- Think of Germany and Italy during the what made the United States great is tors as the detenders of the war said twentieth century. the essence of the Islamo-fascists' dis- we would be. Similarly, Islam did not always content. . .. America's Enlightenment FREEINQUIRYmagazine is open to a threaten peace. Muslims salvaged values are a grave threat to the pervert- variety of dissenting viewpoints. We Plato's and Aristotle's works and lived ed values they yearn to metastasize" have published a number of" letters harmoniously with Spanish Jews and (emphasis in original). and op-ed pieces supporting the war Christians for centuries. What ended This seems to suggest that the moti- against Iraq. We recognize that secu- that happy period was the Inquisition. vation for terrorist attacks and general lar humanists hold a wide range of Was not the Inquisition merely a ill will towards the United States on the political viewpoints. phase through which Christianity part of Islamic extremists is due to their passed? Is it not possible that Islam is hatred of the principles and values con- now passing through a similar phase of tained in the Bill of Rights. There is very Bombing Toward fanaticism and intolerance? Can it not little evidence in the article to support pass on to its own phase of Enlighten- this claim (nearly every statement I have Enlightenment ment? ever read from bin Laden and such peo- Hirsch is certainly right in correlat- ple cite U.S. support of Israel, U.S. troop The arrogance of Steve Hirsch's op-ed ing democracy with Enlightenment, dic- placement in Saudi Arabia, etc.), and I piece ("Enlightenment vs. Proliferation," tatorship with anti-Enlightenment. He is think this hostility can be explain- FI, Summer 2003) mirrors that of the cur- also right when he says that two democ- ed more easily without high-minded rent U.S. administration, with its embar- racies will not attack each other militar- appeals to principle, values, and clash rassing presumption of our clear "good" ily. But we should examine all the com- between civilizations. It has to do with versus the necessary "evil" of what binations. U.S. foreigu policy in the area and the Hirsch calls "the anti-Enlightenment o one will be surprised if two dicta- global stance that we have taken in the world." His argument ties together points torships (like Hitler's Germany and post-World War ITworld. I am not claim- of drastic oversimplification: our wealth Stalin's Russia) fight each other. But the ing that this foreign policy is necessarily comes from the freedoms guaranteed in most interesting case is that of democra- wrong or immoral (perhaps the United the Bill of Rights (never mind our huge cy vs. dictatorship. Historically; democra- States should dominate the rest of the and largely untapped geography; reckless cies have never been creative enough to world culturally; or if that fails, militarily consumption of natural resources, and avoid either appeasement or force when as the author suggests), or that anything exploitation of smaller economies); our challenged by dictatorship. in the world can justify the September 11 riches and freedom alone make Islamic Must democracies always resort to attacks, but that the roots of this conflict extremists want to kill us (never mind our violence for self-preservation? Consider are more complicated than the author interminable political, economic, and mil- the 1983 war between Argentina and portrays. itary meddling throughout the globe); Great Britain over Argentina's take- those who disagree with him are "'Kum- over of the Falklands. Those islands (Continued on page 49)

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org I] GUY HARRISON

suffering throughout history. Still, I excused religion as a phase or personality quirk that The Day Religion Died our young species would, I hoped, outgrow in another thousand years or so. September 11 changed all that. No longer am I so forgiving and so patient, s a journalist I have an obli.gatiOn to not after seeing the spiritual chicken come ask strangers uncomfortable ques- home to roost that autumn morning. I have A tions. I interviewed a firefighter at recalibrated my tolerance for humanity's Ground Zero shortly after the September 11 most intolerant diversion. For me, the World attacks and asked the sad-eyed man how it Trade Center crime put real flesh and blood felt to lose so many friends. I interviewed a on all of those previously distant historical woman who had watched from her office win- and journalistic tales of slashed throats, dow as the first jet vanished into the face of bombings, and live burnings inflicted upon the North Tower. I asked her how it felt to people in the name of gods. witness the deaths of thousands. My post-9/11 readings have included the Now, two years after the September 11 popular commentaries of Thomas L. attacks, I ask the entire world an uncomfort- Friedman (New York Times) and Victor Davis able question: How has almost everyone Hanson (National Review). I have found missed the obvious fact that religion was the them both to be sensible and informative. key ingredient to the madness of September Friedman is well-connected to the Middle East 11? Bin Laden's dreams begin and end with religion drained money, energy, and brain- and does not hesitate to scold Arabs, Jews, religion. Muslim terrorists, just like the power from society. I also understood that and even Christian presidents as he draws Christian terrorists who blow up health clinics supernatural beliefs had inspired death and lines between the dots of Holy Land violence and shoot doctors, draw both their purpose and American aspirations. Hanson, a military and courage directly from a warped historian with a deep knowledge of ancient view of reality commonly Greece, dissects the terrorism challenge so known as religion. well that even the most committed peace-lov- In my mind at least, ing liberal is likely to find his steel-bayonet the whole gods industry logic difficult to reject. Both of these talented was dealt a fatal blow writers have failed by omission, however, in tbat terrible Tuesday in America. Prior to the dis- integration of 3,000 inno- cents, I bad viewed reli- gion as humankind's color- ful and silly side, something not necessarily to be fought but rather to be studied and ultimately accepted as part of the human experience. This is not to suggest that I thought of religions as anything other than lazy answers to human hopes and fears. I had long ago concluded that believing in gods is irrational non- sense. I knew that

http://www. secu Ia rh um ani sm.o rg f f:] October/November 2003 IIEBH (DUW. AIIEjW RlDRI!

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free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org m their attempts to make sense of and offer solu- laser and calls down precision death from a gle when the president says that a god guides tions to the September 11 attacks. Neither has gleaming jet above. But the sad reality is that him. His words are just too similar to the aimed their piercing analysis at the role and the assembly line of religious lunacy can words of faith-based terrorists. I can't laugh responsibility of religion in general. At most, keep pace with the U.S. military The United at the fraudulent faith healers on television they write about unacceptable "extremism" States must continue to produce the most as I once did, for their gullible victims remind and "fundamentalism," as if these things are sophisticated weapons in history to stay on me of those Arab crowds who cheered when not the inevitable products of "acceptable" top of this fight. Religious terrorists, howev- the towers fell. I also find it increasingly dif- religion. Friedman will never produce an er, need only a steady supply of idiots to keep ficult to tolerate those around me who push answer to the madness of the Middle East in a the fight going. For every dumb terrorist religion as a superior source of morality, for I 740-word column until he confronts the mad- vaporized by a smart bomb, at that same now know firsthand that the gods are blood- ness of giving allegiance to imaginary gods. A moment there are a hundred children learn- thirsty. I am forever soured on religion belief system that includes a promise of life ing that their god needs them to fight. because of September 11. As a decent human after death as well as the guiding hand of an Hanson is convincing about the need to phys- being I can feel no other way. I would be invisible master who can be quoted at will by ically annihilate terrorism with brute force. immoral to ever again excuse it as a cute anyone is guaranteed trouble. Some portion of Why, however, is he apparently unconvinced diversion to the drudgery of daily life. Yes, the deluded will always behave in dangerous, that the world would be safer if religions religion, with its diverse rituals, music, art, destructive, and violent ways. History proves were mentally annihilated with brute rea- and emotional power, can be a wonderful this claim. Friedman, for all his brilliance, son? They are, after all, the foundation of expression of humanity. But no beauty is misses the core problem. The Middle East will religious violence. If we want this form of ter- worth those 3,000 innocents killed in New never be quiet so long as its inhabitants con- rorism to fade away then we must start dim- York City, Washington, D.C., and a Penn- tinue to take their religions seriously ming the lights on its source. sylvania field. Nor is it worth the countless As for Hanson, the man who so comfort- All of this may be distasteful to peaceful millions of lives it had stolen before that day ably embraces military solutions to terrorism believers, but that's OK. Truth often is. And For me, religion has moved from the realm of can't seem to pull the trigger when it comes the relevant truth here is that religions, even silly to evil. For now I know that it is the mad- to religion. It will never be enough for the the seemingly benign versions that warm so ness that haunts us, just as it is the beast American descendants of Hoplite phalanxes many souls around the world, are responsible that hunts us. UiJ to smash pockets of Taliban or AI Qaeda for producing hell on Earth for far too many goons; not when the ultimate source of their people. Despite all the chatter about love, reli- Guy Harrison is an American journalist ignorance and evil is left unchallenged. Sure, gion encourages and supports evil. It always living in the Caribbean. He is a past win- it is impressive when a dusty Special Forces has. It always will. ner of the Commonwealth Media Award operative paints a target with his hand-held Since September 11, I can no longer gig- tor Excellence in Journalism.

A Note from the Editor

Chalk two up for Paul Geisert and Mynga Futrell, California activists who promote "the Brights" as a new label far nonreligious people. As readers will see on the . pages that follow, leading science writers Richard Dawkins and Daniel C. Dennett "' embraced their cause. Dawkins wrote "Now Here's a Bright Idea" as his regular FI col- umn, then with our permission released a version to the Guardian of London. Soon after, Daniel C. Dennett's "The Bright Stuff" appeared in the New York Times. No doubt many readers will embrace "the Brights" as Dawkins and Dennett have. It offers a fresh approach and avoids emphasizing what we don't believe. Others may wonder whether a mooement already divided among so many labels needs one more. SOJnewill resist imply- ing that freethinkers are smarter than everybody else. After all, there are millions of "bright believers,"

philosopher Tony Pasquarello's term for talented, highly educated people who never abandon reliaion. J Whatever one thinks of Geisert and Futrell's concept, its auspicious debut is a landmark event. Earning feature attention in New York and London newspapers of record, it's attracted greater media attention than. anything our mouernent has produced since the release of A Secular Humanist Declaration in 1980.2 FREEINQUIRYisproud to present the two articles that just might be, in Steve Allen's uiords, the start of somethina big. Now let's hear what readers think.

Notes 1. "Humanism's Thorn: The Case of the Bright Believers," FREE L\lQUffiY 13, no. 1 (Winter 1992/93): 38-42. 2. Like Paul Kurtz's Humanist Manifesto II in 1973, the 1980Declaration garnered front-page coverage in the New York Times and other major media.

-Tom Flynn

m http:;/www.secularhumanism.org f B OctoberlNovember 2003 RICHARD DAWKINS

Now Here's a Though at present they Bright Idea 1 can't admit it and get elected, the U.S. Congress must be full onceread a science fiction story in which astronauts voyaging to a distant star of closet Brights. lwere waxing homesick: '~ust to think that it's springtime back on Earth!" You may not immediately see what's wrong with that comment, so ingrained is our unconscious orthern Hemisphere chauvinism. UnCOTtS- choose your own cosmology and ethics with- cious is exactly right. That is where con- out society's impertinent presumption that sciousness-raising comes in. you will automatically inherit those of your I suspect it is for a deeper reason than parents. We'd be aghast to be told of a Lenin- gimmicky fun that, in Australia and New ist child or a neo-conservative child or a Zealand, you can buy maps of the world with Hayekian monetarist child. So isn't it a kind the South Pole on top. Now, wouldn't that be of child abuse to speak of a Catholic child or an excellent thing to pin to our classroom a Protestant child? Especially in Northern walls instead of the Ten Commandments? Ireland and Glasgow, where such labels, What a splendid consciousness-raiser. Day handed down over generations, have divided after day, children would be reminded that I used to deplore what I regarded as the neighborhoods for centuries and can even tokenism of my American atheist friends. amount to a death warrant? They were obsessed with removing the Catholic child? Flinch. Protestant child? recently inserted "under God" from the Squirm. Muslim child? Shudder. Everybody's Pledge of Allegiance, whereas I cared more consciousness should be raised to this lev- about the chauvinistic nastiness of pledging el. Occasionally a euphemism is needed, and "Those of us who allegiance to a I]ag in the first place. They I suggest "Child of Jewish (etc.) parents." rejoice in the real and would cross out "In God We Trust" on every When you come down to it, that's all we are dollar bill that passed through their hands, really talking about anyway. Just as the scorn the false comfort whereas I worried more about the tax-free upside-down (Northern Hemisphere chauvin- dollars amassed by bouffant-haired televan- ism again: flinch!) map from New Zealand of the unreal ... need gelists, fleecing nice gullible people of their raises consciousness about a geographical life savings. My friends would risk neighbor- truth, children should hear themselves a word of our own, a hood ostracism to protest the unconstitu- described not as "Christian children" but as tionality of Ten Commandments posters "children of Christian parents." This in itself word like goy. /I on classroom walls. "But it's only words," would raise their consciousness, empower I would expostulate. "Why get so worked them to make up their own minds, and up about mere words, when there's so much choose which religion, if any, they favor, else to object to?" Now I'm having second rather than just assume that religion means North has no monopoly on up. The map on thoughts. Words are not trivial. They matter "same beliefs as parents." I could well imag- the wall would intrigue them as well as raise because they raise consciousness. ine that this linguistically coded freedom to their consciousness. They'd go home and tell My own favorite consciousness-raising choose might lead children to choose no reli- their parents. effort is one I have mentioned many times gion at all. The feminists taught us about conscious- before (and I make no apology, for conscious- Please go out and work at raising peo- ness-raising. I used to laugh at "him or her," ness-raising is all about repetition). A phrase ple's consciousness over the words they use and at "chairperson," and I still try to avoid like "Catholic child" or "Muslim child" should to describe children. At a dinner party, say, if them on aesthetic grounds. But I recognize the clang furious bells of protest in the mind, just ever you hear a person speak of a school for power and importance of consciousness-rais- as we flinch when we hear "One man, one Islamic children, or Catholic children (you ing. I now flinch at the phrase "One man, one vote." Children are too young to know their can read such phrases daily in newspapers), vote." My consciousness has been raised. religious opinions. Just as you can't vote pounce: "How dare you? You would never Probably yours has, too, and it matters. until you are eighteen, you should be free to speak of a neo-conservative Republican child

free inquiry http)/www.secularhumanism.org or a liberal Democrat child, so how could you ists.com/ suggests that numerous intellectu- "A phrase like describe a child as Catholic (Islamic, als and other famous people are Brights. Protestant, etc.)?" With luck, everybody at Brights constitute 60 percent of American 'Catholic child' or the dinner party, next time they hear one of scientists, and more than 90 percent of those those offensive phrases, will flinch, or at least scientists good enough to be elected to the 'Muslim child" should notice, and the meme will spread. elite National Academy of Sciences are A triumph of consciousness-raising has Brights. Look on the bright side: though at clang furious bells of been the homosexual hijacking of the word present they can't admit it and get elected, gay. I used to mourn the loss of gay in (what the U.S. Congress must be full of closet protest in the mind, just I still think of as) its true sense. But on the Brights. As with the Gays, the more Brights as we flinch when we bright side (wait for it), gay has inspired a come out, the easier it will be for yet more new imitator, which is the climax of this arti- Brights to do so. hear 'One man, one cle. Gay is succinct, uplifting, positive: an "up" Geisert and Futrell are very insistent that word, whereas homosexual is a down word, their word is a noun and must not be an vote.' Children are too and queer, faggot, and pooftah are insults. adjective. "I am bright" sounds arrogant. "I Those of us who subscribe to no religion; those am a Bright" sounds too unfamiliar to be young to know their of us whose view of the universe is natural arrogant: it is puzzling, enigmatic, tantaliz- rather than supernatural; those of us who ing. It invites the question, "What on earth is religious opinions." rejoice in the real and scorn the false comfort a Bright?" And then you're away: of the unreal, we need a word of our own, a "A Bright is a person whose worldview is word like gay. You can say, "I am an atheist," free of supernatural and mystical elements. but at best it sounds stuffy (like "I am a homo- The ethics and actions of a Bright are based sexual") and at worst it inflames prejudice on a naturalistic worldview." "You mean a Bright is an atheist?" (like "I am a homosexual"). Paul Geisert and "Well, some Brights are happy to call Mynga Futrell of Sacramento, California, have themselves atheists. Some Brights call themselves agnostics. Some call themselves humanists, some freethinkers. But all Brights have a worldview that is free of supernaturalism and mysticism."

set out to coin a new word, a new gay. Like gay, it is a noun hijacked from an adjective, with its original meaning changed, but not too much. Like gay, it is "Oil, I get it. It's a bit like 'Gay.' So catchy: a potentially prolific meme. Like gay, what's the opposite of a Bright? What would it will offend sticklers for punctilious rectitude you call a religious person?" "What do you suggest?" such as me, but it might be worth it neverthe- less. Like gay, it is positive, warm, cheerful, Of course, even though we Brights will bright. scrupulously insist that our word is a noun, if Richard Dawkins is the Charles Simonyi Bright? Yes, bright. Bright is the word, it catches on it is likely to follow gay and Protessor of Public Understanding of the new noun. I am a Bright. You are a Bright. eventually re-emerge as a new adjective. And Science at Oxford University. An evolution- She is a Bright. We are the Brights. Isn't it when that happens, who knows, we may ary biologist and prolific author and lec- about time you came out as a Bright? Is he a finally get a bright president. turer, his latest book is a collection of Bright? I can't imagine falling for a woman You can sign on as a Bright at http://www: essays, A Devil's Chaplain (Houghton who is not a Bright. http://www:celebathe- the-brights.net/. nIl Mifflin, 2003).

EEl http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 tists, artists, and authors to talk candidly ward to tell me that, while they themselves you can firmly object when you hear family or and informally about their lives to a group of were not brights, they supported bright friends sneer at atheists or agnostics or very smart high school students. Toward the rights. And that is what we want most of all: other godless folk. end of my allotted fifteen minutes, I tried a lit- to be treated with the same respect accorded And you can ask your political candidates tle experiment. I came out as a bright. to Baptists and Hindus and Catholics, no these questions: Would you vote for an other- Now, my identity would come as no sur- more and no less. wise qualified candidate for public office who prise to anybody with the slightest knowl- If you're a bright, what can you do? First, was a bright? Would you support a nominee edge of my work. Nevertheless, the result we can be a powerful force in American for the Supreme Court who was a bright? Do was electrifying. political life if we simply identify ourselves. you think brights should be allowed to be Many students came up to me afterwards (The founding brights maintain a Web site on high school teachers? Or chiefs of police? to thank me, with considerable passion, for which you can stand up and be counted.) I Let's get America's candidates thinking "liberating" them. I hadn't realized how lone- appreciate, however, that while coming out about how to respond to a swelling chorus of ly and insecure these thoughtful teenagers of the closet was easy for an academic like brights. With any luck, we'll soon hear some felt. They'd never heard a respected adult me-or for my colleague Richard Dawkins, squirming politician trying to get off the hot say; in an entirely matter-of-fact way; that he who has issued a similar call in England-in seat with the feeble comment that "Some of didn't believe in God. I had calmly broken a some parts of the country admitting you're a my best friends are brights." nIl taboo and shown how easy it was. bright could lead to social calamity. So In addition, many of the later speakers, please: no "outing." ©2003 Daniel Dennett. Originally published in including several Nobel laureates, were But there's no reason all Americans can't the New YorkTimes. inspired to say that they, too, were brights. In support bright rights. I am neither gay nor each case the remark drew applause. Even African American, but nobody can use a slur Daniel C. Dennett, a professor of philoso- more gratifying were the comments of adults against Blacks or homosexuals in my hearing phy at Tuns University, is author, most and students alike who sought me out after- and get away with it. Whatever your theology, recently, of Freedom Evolves.

NORENE KELLY

Indeed, we have a president who prefers intuition to logic and who shies away from (is Bush and the Theory afraid of?) complexity. Evidence of this abounds, but Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security advisor, is a particularly of Moral Relativity telling source.' Rice not only works closely "It is iust plain easier to push through legislation ur president scares me, and I know I am not the only one quaking in my cowboy and go to war when the Oboots (or, as the case may be, sneak- ers). In fact, I am not sure what frightens me world can purportedly more-terrorists, war, or the sharp right turn our government has taken since 9/11. Yetmany be divided into camps remain blissfully comfortable with Bush and his talk of good and evil, his belief in moral of good and evil," absolutes. Where does his rhetoric come from? Simple: Bush is a born-again Christian, and he with Bush, but sees him during leisure has no hesitation about injecting his personal hours-when other staff members do not- religion into his governing. for example, watching football games. She So why is there not a greater outcry about says: "I know that the President is always the way he intermingles church and state? going to ask first what is the principled thing For one thing, according to a 2001 Gallup to do or the right thing to do.... He least poll, 46 percent of Americans describe them- job is to support us-to represent us- likes me to say, 'This is complex." selves as evangelical or born-again regardless of whether we are Christian or Rice, like Bush, is a moralist, and she Christians. For another, some of us may feel Muslim, Buddhist or Baha'i, aguostic or athe- explains that her adoption of moralism was, that we need to "support our president" in ist. At this important time in our country's in part, due to September 11. She says that this time of uncertainty, regardless of history; our president needs to articulate his the events of September 11 changed the way whether we agree with him. What we need to policies and motivations at a level beyond the everybody thinks about the world. This keep in mind, however, is that our president's simplistic polemic of good and eviL seems like a very egocentric view: every-

Em http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 body in the uiorld changed their thinking after September 11? I don't think so-I know I didn't. Of course some people did-namely Thinking It Over people in our government-because it is just plain easier to push through legislation and Complicated issues call for philosophical reflection. How would Bush defend the moralism go to war when the world can purportedly be with which he governs? Could he formulate a cogent argument or is it "too complicated"? divided into camps of good and evil. It doesn't Argument" get much simpler than "We good, they bad," a Philosopher message particularly useful to a president John Stuart Mill Morality is governed by consequences of behavior. who has a hard time articulating his Immanuel Kant Morality is governed by willing to do right. thoughts, let alone his policies. In line with Ruth Benedict Morality is relative. her adoption of moralism, Rice's office last Aristotle Moral absolutes must be learned. September released the National Security Strategy, which states that there is "a single, Bertrand Russell Morality only makes sense for the atheist. sustainable model for national success ... George Mavrodes Morality only makes sense if there is a God. right and true for every person, in every soci- W.T.Stace Morality is innate. ety." If another country issued this state- ment-whether Great Britain, France, China, North Korea, or Iraq-I don't think the United States would be terribly receptive. should not murder. Setting veracity aside, it is only just go by my instincts." American Isn't it obvious that moralism is not an appro- clear that Bush's priorities do not include car- Heritage Dictionary tells us that instincts priate governing philosophy for the United ing for children or avoiding murder. What kind are an innate aspect of behavior that are States? Isn't it akin to a state religion? of moralism, then, is he a proponent of? No complex, unlearned, and normally adaptive; Rice calls the president "intuitive." wonder a country like France, with its rich an instinct is also a powerful impulse or moti- Intuition is the act of knowing without the intellectual history, is baffled and alienated by vation. Bush asserts that his instincts are all use of rational processes. Philosopher Henri Bush and his moralizing. he has to go by; apparently he has no faith in Bergson, who defends intuition as a viable Interestingly, Bush (in an interview with the human capacity to reason. method of knowing, speaks of an "intellectu- Bob Woodward for Bush at War) chose the There has been and continues to be doubt al sympathy" by which we may acquire word instincts over intuition, saying, "I can as to whether Bush has the intellect to be a knowledge.' But I suspect that such intellec- good president. But intellect is just one point of concern; what about curiosity, open-mind- edness, and maturity? The ability for self- "This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating." reflection? When discussing his past, Bush implies that his boyhood ended around age -George W Bush, as quoted by the forty. His most difficult decision, he told a reporter when campaigning, was deciding to New York Daily News, April 23, 2002 get married. Presumably the presidency has offered him a plethora of decision-making dilemmas that far outweigh the conundrum of tual sympathy is not what Rice is referring to whether or not to tie the knot. And I do hope- when she says Bush is intuitive. Bush's intu- perhaps futilely, but hope is about all I have ition appears to spring from his Christianity, until the next election-that he might come to his Bible, and the like-minded people with understand that life is complex and colored whom he surrounds himself. Additionally, in shades of gray, and that his beliefs are not intuition alone is obviously not enough; it true for everyone, everywhere. Maturity, like must be balanced by logic, by the scientific life, is not a destination but a journey; keep on method. Where is that balance in Bush's trucking, MI'.President. nn words and actions? Indeed, I don't think the president would care to fly in a plane built by Note intuition, yet he is running the government 1. Nicolas Lemann, "Without a Doubt: Has by it. Condoleeza Rice Changed George W. BUSh, 01' Has While cogent arguments can be made in He Changed Her?" New Yorker, October 14 and 21, 2002: 164-79. defense of moralism and intuition, it is not 2. Gerald W. Eichhoefer, Enduring Issues in apparent that Bush subscribes to them. Philosophy (San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., Take, for instance, James Rachels's 1995). 3. Ibid. Elements of Moral Philosophy, in which Rachels argues that there is a core set of values that are Norene Kelly is a treelance common to all societies. writer currently working These values, accord- on a memoir. She has pub- ing to Rachels, are (1) lished psychology research, we should care for chil- taught English in Papua dren; (2) we should tell New Guinea, and worked the truth; and (3) we in the legal profession.

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org Em MASSIMO PIGLIUCCI

"Evoiution-creation On debates, as well as the defense of educa- Debating tion and science in general, are a matter

ichard Dawkins rarely agreed with of public relations." Stephen Jay Gould, but, in Dawkins's Rop-ed "Why I Won't Debate Creationists" in the Winter 2002/03 issue of debates. However, debates do have an effect FREEINQUfRY,welearned that their opinions on less committed people. "Fence sitters" converged on the matter of debating cre- ought to be the real target of scientists ationists: simply put, it is a terrible idea. engaging in debates against creationists. Since I-like Dawkins and Gould-am also a itly on the effects of evolution-creation professional evolutionary biologist, but one debates (a good thesis suggestion for sociol- who thinks it is worthwhile for scientists to ogy or communications students). However, engage creationists in public, I am happy to something is known about other kinds of debate this question. debates, especially those involving political candidates, and presidential aspirants in particular. I will not claim that one can sim- ply transfer the results of such research to "The risk of the evolution-creation arena, but a reason- able skeptic should at least consider any legitimization may be available evidence, imperfect as it may be. We should not retrench into questionable lower than the dangers arguments from first principles. There are three kinds of effects that posed by leavi ng debates can have on the people creationist nonsense watching them: educational, persuasive, and relational. I unchallenged. " Most of the available liter- A\}J,CMoN, ature shows that people do in fact learn from debates. This may in part RAPfONZtL, First, it is worth noting that the only argu- be because most people (,Ef toJ.W ment that Dawkins (or for that matter Gould don't have the time (or and countless other academics) have the inclination) to inform ~C1ENllfIC advanced against debating creationists is themselves through read- '('OOR HAIR! that in so doing a scientist "legitimizes" the ing or more active forms of lVoR'( ToUJe( creationist position and provides "free pub- inquiry. Debates communi- licity" to the creationist movement. There are cate actual information, so several ways in which this point can be coun- they are worthwhile as a tered. For example, the risk of legitimization first introduction to a sub- may be lower than the dangers posed by leav- ject or to stimulate curiosi- ing creationist nonsense unchallenged. ty. The picture is less clear Furthermore, the real beneficiary of the pub- about persuasion; it turns licity debates generate is evolutionary biolo- out that the degree of per- gy, not creationism (creationism, after all, suasiveness depends on cir- has an opportunity to be heard without oppo- cumstances as well as the a sition every week from the pulpit). priori positions of the indi- I further challenge the "debate skeptics" viduals in the audience. As with the results of research into the public's one would expect, intran- perception of and the effects of debates. sigently opinionated peo- There is no research that I could rind explic- ple are not persuaded by

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 Finally, the relational component is inter- sides wish to communicate that they are each losing PR campaign against characters such esting and much misunderstood. Debate- thoughtful and knowledgeable. The ultimate as Phillip Johnson and Duane Gish. Get over goers often come out of the experience with goal ofthe scientist is to encourage people to dig the distaste, out of the ivory tower, and fight strong feelings about the opponents they deeper and to inform themselves; the ultimate the good fight. The future of science and rea- have seen debating. They either like or dis- goal of creationists, by contrast, is to save souls. son depends on it. nil like them as human beings, usually as a Dawkins and several others of my col- result of how they behaved during the debate leagues seem to feel that public relations is RecorrunendedReading (e.g., being aggressive or nasty to the oppo- somehow below the dignity of an academic, "The Subtle Nature of Presidential Debate nent is a turnoff; but being firm, informed, and that we should not engage in anything Influence," Michael Pfau, Argumentation and Advocacy 38(4): 251-62. and civil are regarded as positive attributes). that cannot be considered "real" learning. "Watching Debates," by M. Watts, Campaigns & At first this finding may seem to reinforce Well, wake up and smell the coffee. Evolution- Elections 23(5): 27-31. Dawkins's argument that scientists should not creation debates, as well as the defense of "What Voters Think about Political Debates," by debate creationists. After all, we would like to education and science in general, are a matter R.A. Faucheux, Campaigns & Elections 23(5): 22-26. educate people, not charm them. But herein lies of public relations. The sooner we understand the greatest misunderstanding that often this the better, since creationists have known plagues the whole discussion: evolution-cre- it all along and have a large advantage on us. Massimo Pigliucci is protessor of ecology ation debates are not scientific debates. There Indeed, it is a shame that Dawkins in par- and eootutionaru biology at the University is no such thing. Scientists exchange ideas at ticular refuses to debate. I have met him a of Tennessee and the author of Denying meetings and criticize each other's work in writ- couple of times, and he is one of the most Evolution: Creationism, Scientism and the ing, but they don't debate. Rather, these debates charming, politely firm, engaging speakers I Nature of Science. More of his ramblings can are public relations events, in which the two know He is exactly the sort we need in our befound at www.rati01Wllyspeaking.org.

, . FRONTLINES

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faiths and another for minority ones. SIDE LINES New EU Constitution Director Willy Fautre said that would "rein- Distances Itself from force and legitimize the institutionalized CATHOLICS"LEFTBEHIND"-The popu- Christianity discrimination and intolerance already pre- lar Left Behind book series puts forth an vailing in the EU member countries." evangelical scenario for the end of the The authors of the proposed European And even supporters of formal acknowl- world that includes the appearance of a Union constitution have omitted Christ- edgment of religion in EU's constitutions false prophet. But now Roman Catholic ianity from formal recognition as an are wary of sanctioning too close a bond bishops in Illinois are warning that it is influence on the continent, drawing the between church and state. "We do not want the series that is the false prophet. They ire of many religious conservatives. Will state control of religion, but we want a soci- say that the Left Behind view of the end the framers cave in to the pressure? ety based on scriptural values," noted one times is not shared by Catholics, The draft document instead refers to divinity school dean. Orthodox Christians, or the mainline Europe's "religious heritage." Its critics Protestant denominations: nothing is want added an acknowledgment of a known except that Christ will return, "Creator" or a statement crediting Christ- Leader of 'Secular and any other claims are due to misin- ianity and Christian values with being key Humanistic Judaism' terpretations of the Bible. The Left influences in Europe's history and culture. Behind books have sold fifty-seven mil- They include Vatican Radio President Retires lion copies worldwide. The Illinois bish- Cardinal Roberto Tucci, who said, "It is an Sherwin Wine is stepping down from the ops took on the fight to stem Catholic offense to reason, to good sense, and to helm of the Birmingham Temple in Mich- interest in the books because the pub- a good part of Europe's citizens. "The igan, ending forty years of pioneering lisher, Tyndale House, is based there. European Evangelical Association (EEA) and leading a movement that views and Hope for Europe, an evangelical net- Judaism as a culture rather than a reli- SOME KIND OF SIGN-Robert Valle has work connected to the EEA, also wants the gion and emphasizes faith in people sued St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic constitution tied to Judeo-Christian values. rather than a supreme being. Church in Joliet Illinois, because a statue But other groups support the new con- Wine, seventy-five years old, began his fell on him as he was doing volunteer stitution's language. Human Rights Without movement with eight families. Today, his repair work. St. Thomas is the patron saint Frontiers, which focuses its work on advo- followers number about 40,000 and are of builders and construction workers. cating for religious liberties, is wary of spread among forty communities across the actions that would support the creation of a United States. He says his ideas were influ- two-tiered society-one for traditional enced by the Holocaust, which showed him

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org III FRONTLINES .

that people must rely on themselves and by the Canadian government. And one of not a magic power to "take charge" of their the groups that has seen large gains in SIDE LINES lives and "live courageously." membership is that of those checking off But his desire to both study philosophy "No Religion." GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN-Tired of and be close to the Jewish community lead From 1991-2001, the number of being saddled with the nickname "Devils him to join the rabbinate after studying at Protestants in Canada dropped 772, 830 to Highway," transportation officials in New the liberal Hebrew Union College in 8.7 million, an 8.2 percent drop. Meanwhile, Mexico, Colorado, and Utah requested Cincinnati. A few years later he created the the number of Roman Catholics increased that U.S. 666 be renumbered to dispel the Society for Humanistic Judaism. 4.8 percent to 12.8 million, making association with the "mark of the beast." Distinguishing features of Wine's Judaism, Catholicism the largest denomination in The American Association of State which he also called "secular humanistic" (he Canada. Experts attribute this increase to Highway and Transportation complied, wrote several articles for FREE INQUIRY), immigration, as they do the growing num- and plans were made remove the old signs included Friday night "celebrations" that bers of Muslims (579,640, a 128.9 percent and install ones bearing the new "U.S. revolved around themes such as love or jump); Buddhists (300,345, up 83.8 per- 491" designation. But souvenir hunters courage. Readings from the Torah were cent); Hindus (297,200, up 89.3 percent); got there first, stealing all the U.S. 666 replaced with selections from Jewish litera- and Sikhs (278,415, an 88.8 percent signs in New Mexico and Colorado and ture. The lyrics of a traditional music selec- increase). The number of Christians who several in Utah. State officials reportedly tion were changed from "Let God bring peace" refuse to identify themselves as belonging to were neither amused nor grateful for hav- to "Let us bring peace" at Wine's services. a particular denomination also increased, ing their workload reduced. Five years ago the United Jewish by 121.1 percent to 780,450. Communities recognized Humanistic But the number who claim "No religion" THE "GOOD" BOOK-Even passages of Judaism as another denomination within also jumped dramatically in the last ten the Bible qualify as hate literature if Judaism. Wine will remain the dean of the years-43.9 percent to 4.8 million. In the used in certain ways and are therefore illegal, a Canadian court has ruled. It International Institute for Secular Human- T01'OntoStar, Tom Harpur, author of books found a Saskatchewan man in violation istic Judaism, which focuses on training on spirituality, wrote: "I am in touch with of the province's Human Rights Code and leaders. The Birmingham Temple will contin- large number of articulate, spiritually mind- ordered him to pay $1,500 (Canadian) to ue under the leadership of two rabbis who ed Canadians and they are increasing find- each of three homosexual men who filed were bar mitzvahed by Wine as teenagers. ing church boring, irrelevant, even 'dead.' a complaint. Hugh Owens had taken out The current decline is a drop in the bucket a newspaper ad listing references to four compared with what's coming. The Catholic biblical passages and depicting two men Humanist Services for Church will not be excepted." holding hands overlaid by a red circle the Deceased on the with a line drawn through it. The Rise in England Saskatoon Star Phoenix, the newspaper The End Times that published the ad, was also found The past year has seen a 72 percent rise Market Expands guilty of inciting hatred. in the number of people requesting non- religious humanist services, according to Not content with the success of the Left PEW PAYMENTS-A church in Louisiana the West Midlands Cooperative Society. Behind book series, the authors have is turning an old practice on its head. According to Funeral Controller Simon launched a Web site to reach more peo- Parishioners at the Greenwood Acres Full Fisher, families are requesting humanist ple. The site, called "The Left Behind Gospel Church in Shreveport are being funerals because they are following the Prophecy Club," offers "weekly analyses of paid to sit in church, not paying to do deceased's instructions or because they world events and their relationship to end- so. But only White churchgoers, that is. feel a nonreligious ceremony is more time prophecies"; input from Len Behind The idea is the brainchild of Bishop Fred appropriate for the individual involved. authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, and Caldwell, who wants to attract more The West Midlands Cooperative Society, message boards. The ad teasers promise White worshi ppers to his church and one of several such groups in England, is the answers to the following questions: "Is the integrate the congregation. He is offer- only one to staff a dedicated nonreligious offi- UN a precursor of the One World govern- ing $5 per hour for Sunday attendance ciant. The increase in demand for humanist ment prophesied in the Bible? Could the and $10 for a Thursday visit. Initial funeral services has prompted the society to Antichrist be alive now? Are ATMs and response was described as encouraging. train two more people to deliver such ser- other revolutions in global banking a fore- vices. The Cooperative expects to conduct telling of the Mark of the Beast?" A BADTASTE-The "MiracleWater" sold in more than 170 humanist services between The site offers a free sample of the con- bottles by the Leroy Jenkins Evangelistic September 2002 and September 2003. tent. Subscribers are asked to pay $44.95 per Association in Columbus, Ohio, has been year for an annual subscription or $19.95 for found by the state Department of Health a three-month subscription. Automatic to contain coliform bacteria. It issued a Canadian Churchgoers renewals are billed at $4.95 per month. New temporary restraining order that bars subscribers are given their choice of a book Jenkins from selling the water. Last year, Drop, Latest Census or audiocassette version ofAre WeLiving in the Delaware,Ohio, MunicipalCourt found Shows the End Times? by LaHaye and Jenkins and the Association guilty of failing to obtain a full-color timeline of Left Behind events. a license to bottle the water. Despite a Traditional Protestantism is on the Those who visit the site and exit without sub- fine, it failed to apply for a license before decline in Canada, according to the scribing are e-mailed encouragement to the new charges were brought. results of the 2001 census, just released reconsider a few days later.

Em http)lwww.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 ~~e 6j~ent CHRISTIANITY"S ROLE IN THE RISE OF THE NAZIS ecnubnl Gregory S. Paul

mination of Jews occurred in 414 C.E. It would have innumerable successors, the worst nearly genocidal in scope. At standard rates of population growth, Diaspora Jewry should now number in the hundreds of millions. That there are only an estimated 13 million ou know what happens when atheists take Jews in the world' is largely the result of Christian violence and over-remember Nazi Germany?" Many forced conversion.' " Christians point to Nazism, alongside Anti-Semitic practices pioneered by Catholics included the Stalinism, to illustrate the perils of atheism in power.' At the other forced wearing of yellow identification, ghettoization, confiscation extreme, some authors paint the Vatican as Hitler's eager ally. of Jews' property; and bans on intermarriage with Christians. Meanwhile, the Nazis are generally portrayed as using terror to bend European Protestantism bore the fierce impress of Martin Luther, a modern civilization to their agenda; yet we recognize that Hitler whose 1543 tract On the Jews and Their Lies was a principal was initially popular. Amid these contradictions, where is the truth? inspiration for Mein Kampt? In addition to his anti-Semitism, A growing body of scholarly research, some based on careful Luther was also a fervent authoritarian. Against the Robbing and analysis of Nazi records, is clarifying this complex history.' It Murdering Peasants, his vituperative commentary on a contem- reveals a convoluted pattern of religious and moral failure in porary rebellion, contributed to the deaths of perhaps 100,000 which atheism and the nonreligious played little role, except as Christians and helped to lay the groundwork for an increasingly victims of the Nazis and their allies. In contrast, Christianity had severe Germo-Christian autocracy.' the capacity to stop Nazism before it came to power, and to reduce With the Enlightenment, deistic and secular thinkers seeded or moderate its practices afterwards, but repeatedly failed to do Western culture with Greco-Roman notions of democracy and free so because the principal churches were complicit with-indeed, in expression. The feudal aristocracies and the churches counterat- the pay of-the Nazis. tacked, couching their reactionary defense of privilege in self-con- Most German Christians supported the Reich; many continued sciously biblicallangnage. This controversy would shape centuries to do so in the face of mounting evidence that the dictatorship was of European history. As late as 1870, the Roman Catholic Church depraved and murderously cruel. Elsewhere in Europe the story reaffirmed a reactionary program at the first Vatican Council. was often the same. Only with Christianity's forbearance and fre- Convened by the ultraconservative Pope Pius IX (reigned quent cooperation could fascistic movements gain majority support 1846-1878), Vatican I stridently condemned modernism, democra- in Christian nations. European fascism was the fruit of a Christian cy; capitalism, usury; and Marxism." Anti-Semitism was also part of culture. Millions of Christians actively supported these notorious the mix; well into the twentieth century, mainstream Catholic pub- regimes. Thousands participated in their atrocities. lications set an intolerant tone that later Nazi propaganda would What, in God's name, were they thinking? imitate. Anti-Semitism remained conspicuous in mainstream Before we can consider the Nazis, we need to examine the his- Catholic literature even after Pope Pius XI (reigned 1922-1939) torical and cultural religious context that would give rise to them. officially condemned it. Protestantism, too, was largely hostile toward modernism and CHRISTIAN FOUNDATIONS democracy during this period (with a few exceptions in northern Early Christian sects promoted loyalty to authoritarian rulers so Europe). Because Jews were seen as materialists who promoted long they were not intolerably anti-Christian or, worse, atheistic. and benefited from Enlightenment modernism, most Protestant Christian anti-Semitism sprang from one ofthe church's first efforts denominations remained anti-Semitic. to forge an accommodation with power. Reinterpreting the Gospels With the nineteenth century came a European movement that to shift blame for the Crucifixion from the Romans to the Jews (the viewed Judaism as a racial curse. Attracting both Protestant and "Christ killer" story) courted favor with Rome, an early example of Catholic dissidents within Germanic populations, Aryan Christian complicity for political purposes. Added energy came Christianity differed from traditional Christianity in denying both from Christians' anger over most Jews' refusal to convert.' that Christ was a Jew and that Christianity had grown out of Christian anti-Semitism was only intermittently violent, but Judaism.' Adherents viewed Christ as a divine Aryan warrior who when violence occurred it was devastating. The first outright exter- brought the sword to cleanse the earth of Jews." Aryans were held to be the only true humans, specially created by God through Adam Gregory S. Paul is an independent evolutionary scientist and and Eve; all other peoples were soulless subhumans, descended paleontologist with interests in the relationship between science from apes or created by Satan with no hope of salvation.' I Most non- and religion. His books include Dinosaurs of the Air (Johns Aryans were considered suitable for subservient roles including Hopkins University Press) and Beyond Humanity (coauthor Earl slavery; but not the Jews. Spiritless yet clever and devious, Jews Cox, Charles River Media, 1996).

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org m Together with interior minister Wilhelm Frick (second from the right) and propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels (far right), Catholic bishops Franz Rudolf Bornewasser (Bishop of Trier) and Lugwig Sebastian (Bishop of Speyer) raise their hands in the Nazi salute at an offical ceremony in Saarbrucken city hall marking the re-incor- poration of the Saarland into the German Reich. were seen as a satanic disease to be quarantined or eliminated. fittest peoples. Democracy had no place, but Nietzschean philoso- During the same years neopagan and occult movements gained phy had some influence-a point Christian apologists make much adherents and incubated their own form of Aryanism. Unlike of. Yet Nietzsche's influence was modest, as Volkists found his skep- Aryan Christians, neopagan Aryans acknowledged that Christ ticism toward religion unacceptable." was a Jew-and for that reason rejected Christianity. They Though traceable to the ancient world, atheism first emerged as believed themselves descended from demigods whose divinity had a major social movement in the mid-1800s.13 It would be associated degraded through centuries of interbreeding with lesser races. with both pro- and antidemocratic worldviews. Strongly influenced The Norse gods and even the Atlantis myth sometimes decorated by science, atheists tended to view all humans as descended in com- Aryan mythology. mon from apes. There was no inherent anti-Semitic tradition, Some atheists accepted then-popular pseudoscientific racist views that the races exhibited varying levels of intellect due to differing genet- "When we seek precursors of Nazi ic heritages. Some went further, embracing various forms of eugen- ics as a means of improving the human condition. But neither of anti-Semitism and authoritarianism, these positions was uniquely or characteristically atheistic. "Scientific" racism is actually better understood as a tool by which it is among European Christians, Christians could perpetuate their own cultural prejudices-it was not among the atheists, no accident that the races deemed inferior by Western Christian societies and "science" were the same! that we must search!' When we seek precursors of Nazi anti-Semitism and authoritar- ianism, it is among European Christians, not among the atheists, that we must search. Attempting to deny that Nazi anti-Semitism had a Christian Following World War I, the religious situation in Europe was component, Christian apologists exaggerate the influence of Aryan complex. Scientific findings about the age of the Earth, Darwin's neopaganism. Actually, neopaganism never had a large following. theory of evolution, and biblical criticism had fueled the first major German Aryanism, whether Christian or pagan, became known expansion of nontheism at Christianity's expense among ordinary as "Volkism." Volkism prophesied the emergence of a great God- Europeans. The churches' support for the catastrophic Great War chosen Aryan who would lead the people (Volk) to their grand des- further fueled public disaffection, as did (in Germany) the flight of tiny through the conquest of Lebensraum (living space). A common the Kaiser, in whom both Protestant and Catholic clergy had vested motto was "God and Volk." Disregarding obvious theological con- heavily. I' But religion was not everywhere in retreat: postwar tradictions, growing numbers of German nationalists managed to Germany experienced a Christian spiritual renaissance outside the work Aryanism into their Protestant or Catholic confessions, much traditional churches." Religious freedom was unprecedented, but as contemporary adherents of Voudoun or Santeria blend the the established churches enjoyed widespread state support and occult with their Christian beliefs. Darwinian theory sometimes controlled their own education systems. They were far more influ- entered Volkism as a belief in the divinely intended survival of the ential than today.

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 Roughly two-thirds of Germans were Protestant, almost all of NAZI LEADERS, THEISM, AND FAMILY VALUES the rest Catholic. The pagan minority claimed at most 5 percent. According to standard biographies, the principal Nazi leaders were Explicit nontheism was limited to an intellectual elite and to com- all born, baptized, and raised Christian. Most grew up in strict, mitted socialists. Just 1.5percent of Germans identified themselves pious households where tolerance and democratic values were dis- as unbelievers in a 1939census, which means either that very few paraged. Nazi leaders of Catholic background included AdolfHitler, Nazis and National Socialist German Worker's Party supporters Heinrich Hinunler, Reinhard Heydrich, and Joseph Goebbels. were atheists, or that atheists feared to identify themselves to the Hitler did well in monastery school. He sang in the choir, found pro-theistic regime. High Mass and other ceremonies intoxicating, and idolized priests. Impressed by their power, he at one time considered entering the priesthood. "Thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them, thou shalt Rudolf Hoess, who as commandant at Auschwitz-Birkinau pio- make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. And neered the use of the Zyklon-Bgas that killed half of all Holocaust thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall victims, had strict Catholic parents. Hermann Goering had mixed deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them .... For they Catholic-Protestant parentage, while RudolfHess, Martin Bormann, Albert Speer, and AdolfEichmann had Protestant backgrounds. Not will turn away thy son from following me ... so will the anger of one of the top Nazi leaders was raised in a liberal or atheistic fam- the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly ... ily-no doubt, the parents of any of them would have found such the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto views scandalous. Traditionalists would never think to deprive their himself, above all people that are on the face of the earth." offspring of the faith-based moral foundations that they would need - Deuteronomy 7:3-6, God's orders to the Israelites to grow into ethical adults. on how to conquer and cleanse all of Canaan "Christianityhad the capacity to stop Nazism before it came to power,

"But since I learned that these miserable and accursed people and to reduce or moderate its practices to lure themselves even to us.... I have published this little afterwards, but repeatedly failed book .... Our Lord calls them a "brood of vipers." ... Therefore the blind Jews are truly stupid fools ... wherever they have their to do so ... !' synagogues, nothing is found but a den of devils in which sheer self-glory, conceit, lies, blasphemy, and defaming of God and So much for the Nazi leaders' religious backgrounds. Assessing men are practiced most maliciously ... they are nothing but their religious views as adults is more difficult. On ancillary issues thieves and robbers who daily eat no morsel and wear no thread such as religion, Party doctrine was a deliberate tangle of contra- of clothing which they have not stolen and pilfered from us by dictions." For Hitler consistency mattered less than having a state- means of their accursed usury .... Did I not tell you earlier that a ment at hand for any situation that might arise. History records many things that Hitler wrote or said about religion, but they too Jew is such a noble, precious jewel that God and all the angels are sometimes contradictory. Many were crafted for a particular dance when he farts? ... We must avoid confirming them in their audience or moment and have limited value for illuminating Hitler's wanton lying, slandering, cursing and defaming. Nor dare we true opinion; in any case, neither Hitler nor any other key Nazi make ourselves partners in their devilish ranting and raving by leader was a trained theologian with carefully thought-out views. shielding and protecting them, by giving them food, drink and Accuracy of transcription is another concern. Hitler's public shelter, or by other neighborly acts ... gentle mercy will only speeches were recorded reliably,but were often propagandistic. His tend to make them worse and worse, while sharp mercy will private statements seem more likely to reflect his actual views, but reform them but little. Therefore, in any case, away with them! their reliabilityvaries widely" Tbe passages Christian apologists cite ... their synagogues must be burned down .,. their prayer most often to prove Hitler's atheism are of questionable accuracy. books, their Talmudic writings, also the entire Bible-be taken Apologists often brandish them without noting historians' reserva- tions. Hitler's personal library has been partly preserved, and a good from them ... they be forbidden ... to pray, to teach publicly .... deal is known about his reading habits, another possible windowonto They must be driven from our country .... May Christ, our dear Hitler's beliefs.IS Also important, and often ignored by apologists, are Lord, convert them mercifully and preserve us steadfastly and statements made by religious figures of the time, who generally-at immovably in the knowledge of him, which is eternal life. Amen. least for public consumption-viewed Hitler as a Christian and a - a sample from Luther's On The Jews and Their Lies Catholic in good standing. Meanwhile, the silent testimony of pho- tographs is irrefutable, much as apologists struggle to evade this damningvisual evidence. Most religious Germans detested the impiety, secularism, and Despite these difficulties, enough is known to build a reasonable hedonistic decadence that they associated with such modernist picture of what Hitler and other top Nazis believed. ideas as democracy and free speech. If they feared democracy, they Hitler was a Christian, but his Christ was no Jew. In his youth he were terrified by Communism,to the point ofbeing willing to accept dabbled with occult thinking but never became a devotee.As a young extreme countermethods. man he grew increasingly bohemian and stopped attending church. Thus it was a largely Christian, deeply racist, often antidemoc- Initially no more anti-Semitic than the norm, in the years before the ratic, and in many respects dangerously primitive Western culture Great War he fell under the anti-Semitic influence of the Volkish into which Nazism would arise. It was a theistic powder keg ready Christian Social Party and other Aryan movements.After Germany's to explode. stunning defeat and the ruinous terms ofpeace, Hitler became a full-

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org blown Aryanist and anti-Semite. He grew obsessed with racial issues, Hitler was a complex figure, but based on the available evidence which he unfailingly embedded in a religious context. we can conclude our inquiry into his personal religious convictions Apologists often suggest that Hitler did not hold a traditional by describing him as an Aryan Volkist Christian who had deep belief in God because he believed that he was God. True, Hitler Catholic roots, strongly influenced by Protestantism, touched by thought himself God's chosen leader for the Aryan race. But he strands of neopaganism and Darwinism, and minimally influenced never claimed to be divine, and never presented himself in that by the occult. Though Hitler pontificated about God and religion at manner to his followers. Members of the Wehrmachl swore this loy- great length, he considered politics more important than religion as alty oath: "I swear by God this holy oath to the Fuhrer of the the means to achieve his agenda. German Reich and the German people, Adolf Hitler." For Schutzstaffel (8.8.) members it was: "I pledge to you, Adolf Hitler, my obedience unto death, so help me God." From La Civilta Cattoloica (primary Vatican publication): Hitler repeatedly thanked God or Providence for his survival on the western front during the Great War, his safe escape from multi- "[The Jewish nation] does not work, but traffics in the proper- ple assassination attempts, his seemingly miraculous rise from ty and the work of others, it does not produce, but lives and homelessness to influence and power, and his amazing internation- grows fat with the products of the arts and industry of the al successes. He never tired of proclaiming that all of this was nations that give it refuge. It is the giant octopus that with its beyond the power of any mere mortal. Later in the war, Hitler por- trayed German defeats as part of an epic test: God would reward his oversized tentacles envelops everything. It has its stomach in true chosen people with the final victory they deserved so long as the banks ... and its suction cups everywhere: in contracts they never gave up the struggle. and monopolies, in credit unions and banks, in shipping and in the railroads, in the town treasuries and in state finance. It represents the kingdom of capital ... the aristocracy of "Most German Christians supported the gold .... It reigns unopposed." (1893) Reich; many continued to do so in the "The world is sick .... Everywhere peoples are in the grip of inexplicable convulsions. Who is responsible? The face of mounting evidence that the Synagogue." (1922)

dictatorship was depraved and " ... an obvious fact that the Jews are a disruptive element murderously cruel!' because of their dominating spirit and their revolutionary ten- dency. Judaism is ... a foreign body that irritates and provokes the reactions of the organism it has contaminated." (1937) Reich iconography, too, reveals that Nazism never cut its ties to Christianity. The markings of Luftwaffe aircraft comprised just two swastikas-and six crosses. Likewise the Kreipsmarine (German Navy) flag combined the symbols. Hitler participated in public prayers and religious services at which the swastika and the cross were displayed together. "While the regime is determined to carry through the political Hitler openly admired Martin Luther, whom he considered a bril- and moral purging of our public life, it is creating and ensuring liant reformer. 19 Yet he said in several private conversations that he the prerequisites for a really deep inner religiosity. Benefits of considered himself a Catholic. He said publicly on several occasions a personal nature, which might arise from a compromise with that Christ was his savior. As late as 1944, planning the last-ditch atheistic organizations, could outweigh the results which offensive the world would know as the Battle of the Bulge, he code- become apparent through the destruction of general religious- named it "Operation Christrose." Among his Nazi cronies Hitler criticized the established churches ethical values. The national regime seeks in both Christian con- harshly and often. Some of these alleged statements must be treated fessions the factors most important for the maintenance of our with skepticism," but clearly he viewed the traditional Christian Volkism. The struggle against a materialistic philosophy and for faiths as weak and contaminated by Judaism. Still, there is no war- the creation of a true folk community serves the interests of the rant for the claim that he became anti-Christian or antireligious after German nation as well as our Christian belief." coming to power. No reliably attributed quote reveals Hitler to be an atheist or in any way sympathetic to atheism. On the contrary, he - Hitler, in his first speech to the Reichstag often condemned atheism, as he did Christians who collaborated with such atheistic forces as Bolshevism. He consistently denied that the state could replace faith and instructed 8peer to include churches in his beloved plans for a rebuilt Berlin. The Nazi-era constitution None of the leaders immediately beneath Hitler was a pious tradi- explicitly evoked God. Calculating that his victories over Europe and tional Christian. But there is no compelling evidence that any top Nazi Bolshevism would make him so popular that people would be willing was nontheistic. Any so accused denied the charge with vehemence. to abandon their traditional faiths, Hitler entertained plans to replace Reich-Fuhrer Himmler regularly attended Catholic services Protestantism and Catholicism with a reformed Christian church that until he lurched into an increasingly bizarre Aryanism. He autho- would include all Aryans while removing foreign (Rome-based) influ- rized searches for the Holy Grail and other supposedly powerful ence. German Protestants had already rejected a more modest effort Christian and Cathar relics. A believer in reincarnation, he sent along these lines, as will be seen below. How Germans as a whole expeditions to Tibet and the American tropics in search of the orig- would have received this reform after a Nazi victory is open to ques- inal Aryans and even Atlantians. He and Heydrich modeled the 8.8. tion. In any case, Hitler saw himself as Christianity's ultimate after the disciplined and secretive Jesuits; it would not accept athe- reformer, not its dedicated enemy. ists as members." Goering, least ideological among top Nazis, some-

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 times endorsed both Protestant and Catholic traditions. On other broad democratic center. And it favored the rise of Hitler, since ulti- occasions he criticized them. Goebbels turned against Catholicism mately both churches courted his favor-each fearing that the other would complete the Reformation or the Counter-Reformation through in favor of a reformed Aryan faith; both his and Goering's children Hitler'" were baptized. Bormann was stridently opposed to contemporary organized Christianity; he was a leader of the Church Struggle, the Carefully plotting his strategy, Hitler purged some of the Volkish inconsistently applied Nazi campaign to oppose the influence of Nazi radicals most belligerent toward the traditional Christian established churches." churches. In this way he lessened the risk of ecclesiastical opposi- The Nazis cbampioned traditional family values: their ideology tion. At the same time, he knew that the presence of both Catholics was conservative, bourgeois, patriarchal, and strongly antifeminist. and Protestants among the Nazi leadership would ease church- Discipline and conformity were emphasized, marriage promoted, men's fears that the Party might engage in sectarianism. abortion and homosexuality despised." Though it had many Catholic leaders (including Hitler), the Nazi Traditionalism also dominated Nazi philosophy, such as it was. Party relied heavily on Protestant support. Protestants had given Though science and technology were lauded, the overall thrust the Party its principal backing during the years leading up to 1933 opposed the Enlightenment, modernism, intellectualism, and ratio- at a level disproportionate to their national majority" Evangelical nality.It is hard to imagine how a movementwith that agenda could have been friendly toward atheism, and the Nazis were not. Volkism

"I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so." "Hitlerrepeatedly thanked Godor

- Statement by Hitler to General Gerhart Engel in 1941 Providence for his survival on the western front during the GreatWar, his safe escape from multiple "I learned much from the Order of the Jesuits. Until now, assassination attempts, his seemingly there has never been anything more grandiose, on the earth, miraculous rise from homelessness to than the hierarchical organization of the Catholic church. I transferred much of this organization into my own party." influence and power, and his amazing - Hitler. 1933 international successes!' was inherently hostile toward atheism: freethinkers clashed fre- quently with Nazis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. On taking youth was especially pro-Nazi. It has been estimated that as many power, Hitler banned freethought organizations and launched an as 90 percent of Protestant university theologians supported the "anti-godless" movement. In a 1933 speech he declared: "Wehave Party. Indeed, the participation of so many respected Protestants ... undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that gave a early, comforting air oflegitimacy to the often-thuggish Party. not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it So did the frequent sight of Sturmabteiluna (S.A.) units marching out." This forthright hostility was far more straightforward than the in uniform to church. Nazis' complex, often contradictory stance toward traditional As German life between the wars grew more desperate, some Christian faith. Protestant pastors explicitly defended Nazi murders of "traitors to the Volk"from the pulpit. Antifascist Protestants found themselves DESTROYING DEMOCRACY: marginalized. The once-unlikely topic of Volkist-Protestant compat- A POLITICAL-RELIGIOUS COLLABORATION ibility became the leading theological subject of the day.26This is As detailed by historian Ian Kershaw, Hitler made no secret of his less surprising when we consider that Volkism and German intent to destroy democracy.Yethe came to power largely legally;in Protestantism were both strongly nationalistic; Lutheranism in par- no sense was he a tyrant imposed upon the German people. ticular had German roots. The Nazi takeover climaxeda lengthy,ironic rejection of democra- This mirage of harmony enticed Hitler into a naive attempt to cy at the hands of"a majority of"German voters. Bythe early 1930s, unite the German Protestant churches into a single Volkish body ordinary Germanshad lostpatience with democracy;growingnumbers under Nazi controL Launched shortly after the Nazis came to power, hoped an authoritarian strongmanwouldrestore order and prosperity this project failed immediately. The evangelical sects proved as and return Germany to great-power status. Roughly two-thirds of unwilling as ever to get along with one another, though much of their clergy eventually Nazified. German Christians repeatedly voted for candidates who promised to overthrowdemocracy.Authoritarianismwas allbut inevitable;at issue CATHOLICISM AND THE NAZI TAKEOVER was merelywho the new strongman wouldbe. What made democracy so fragile? Historian Klaus Scholder Ironically-but, as we shall see, for obvious reasons-Chancellor explains that Germany lacked a deep democratic tradition, and Hitler had greater initial success reaching accommodation with wouldhave had difficultyin formingone because German societywas Roman Catholic leaders than with the Protestants. The irony lay in so thoroughly divided into opposing Protestant and Catholic blocs. the fact that the Catholic Zentrum (Center) Party had been princi- This division: pally responsible for denying majorities to the Nazis in early elec- tions. Although Teutonic in outlook, German Catholics had close created a climate of competition, fear and prejudice between tbe con- fessions, which burdened all German domestic and foreign policies emotional ties to Rome.As a group they were somewhat less nation- with an ideological element of incalculable weight and extent. This alistic than most Protestants. Catholics were correspondingly more climate erected an almost insurmountable barrier to the formation of likely than Protestants to view Hitler (incorrectly) as godless, or as

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WHO BEARS THE BLAME FOR NAZISM? @,

a nee-heathen anti-Christian, Catholic clergy consistently DEAL MAKING WITH THE DEVIL denounced Nazism, though they often undercut themselves by Even after the Enabling Act, Hitler's position remained tenuous. preaching traditional anti-Semitism at the same time, The Nazis needed to deepen majority popular support and cement Even so, and despite Catholicism's minority status, it would be relations with a skeptical German military. Hitler needed to ally German Catholics and the Roman Catholic Church that whose actions all Aryans under the swastika while he undermined and demor- would at last put total power within the Nazis' reach. alized regime opponents. What would solidify Hitler's position? A Though it was not without antimodernists, the Catholic Zentrum foreign policy coup: the Concordat of 1933 between Nazi Germany party had antagonized the Vatican during the 1920s by forming gov- erning coalitions with the secularized, moderate Left-oriented and the Vatican. The national and international legitimacy Hitler would gain Social Democrats. This changed in 1928, when the priest Ludwig Kaas became the first cleric to head the party. To the dismay of through tills treaty was incalculable. Failure to secure it after intense and openly promoted effort could have been a crushing humiliation. some Catholics, Kaas and other Catholic politicians participated Hitler put exceptional effort into the project. He courted the Holy See, both actively and passively in destroying democratic rule, and in emphasizing ills own Christianity, simultaneously striving to intimi- particular the Zentrum. date the Vatican with demonstrations of his swelling power.

"I may not be a light of the church, a pulpiteer, but deep down I am a pious man, and believe that whoever fights bravely in "Early Christian sects promoted loyalty defense of the natural laws framed by God and never capitu- to authoritarian rulers so long they lates will never be deserted by the lawgiver, but will, in the end, receive the blessings of Providence." were not intolerably anti-Christian -Hitler, in a 1944 speech or, worse, atheistic!'

"Fuhrer, my Fiihrer, bequeathed to me by the Lord."

The devoutly Catholic chancellor Franz von Papen, not a fascist - Prelunch invocation of German school children but stoutly right-wing, engineered the key electoral victory that brought Hitler to power. Disastrously Papen dissolved the Reichstag in 1932, then formed a Zentrum-Nazi coalition in viola- tion of all previous principles. It was Papen who in 1933 made Catholic apologists describe the Concordat of 1933 as a neces- Hitler chancellor, Papen stepping down to the vice chancellorship. sary move by a church desperate to protect itself against a violent The common claim that Papen acted in the hope that the azis regime which forced the accord upon it-passing over the contra- could be controlled and ultimately discredited may be true, partly diction at the heart of tills argument. Actually, having failed in true, or false; but without Papen's reckless aid, Hitler would not repeated attempts to negotiate the ardently desired concordat with have become Germany's leader. a skeptical Weimar democracy, Kaas, Papen, the future Pius XII The church congratulated Hitler on his assumption of power. (who reigned 1939-1958), the sitting Pius XI, and other leading German bishops released a statement that wiped out past criticism Catholics saw their chance to get what they had been seeking from of Nazism by proclaiming the new regime acceptable, then followed an agreeable member of the church-that is, Hitler-at an histori- doctrine by ordering the laity to be loyal to this regime just as they cal moment when he and fascism in general were regarded as a nat- had commanded loyalty to previous regimes. Since Catholics had ural ally by many Catholic leaders." Negotiations were initiated by been instrumental in bringing Hitler to power and served in his cab- both sides, modeled on the mutually advantageous 1929 concordat inet, the bishops had little choice but to collaborate. between Mussolini and the Vatican. German Catholics were stunned by the magnitude and sudden- Now Zentrum's pivotal role in assuring passage of the Enabling ness of this realignment. The rigidly conformist church had flipped Act can be seen in context. It was part of the tacit azi-Vatican deal from ordering its flock to oppose the Nazis to commanding cooper- for a future concordat." The Enabling Act vote hollowed Zentrum, ation. A minority among German Catholics was appalled and dis- leaving little more than a shell. Thus, a clergy far more interested heartened. But most "received the statement with relief-indeed in church power than democratic politics could take control on both with rejoicing-because it finally also cleared the way into the sides of the negotiating table. In a flagrant conflict of interest, the Third Reich for Catholic Christians" alongside millions of devout Papen helped to represent the German state. Concordat Protestants, who joined in exulting that the dream of a Nazi- negotiations were largely held in Rome, so that Kaas could leave his Catholic-Protestant nationalist alliance had been achieved." The vanishing party yet more rudderless. Papen, Kaas, and the future Catholic vote for the Nazis increased in the last multi-party elec- Pius XII worked overtime to finalize a treaty that would, among tions after Hitler assumed control, doubling in some areas, inspir- other things, put an end to the Zentrum. In negotiating away the ing a mass Catholic exodus from the Zentrum to the fascists. After party he led, Kaas eliminated the last political entity that might the Reichstag fire, the Zentrum voted en masse to support the infa- have opposed the new Fuhrer," Nor did the Vatican protect mous Enabling Act, which would give the Hitler-Papen cabinet exec- Germany's Catholic party. Contrary to the contention of some, evi- utive and legislative authority independent of the German dence indicates that the Vatican was pleased to negotiate away all Parliament. Zentrum's bloc vote cemented the two-thirds majority traces of the Zentrum, for which it had no more use save as a bar- needed to pass the Act. gaining chip. In this the Holy See treated Zentrum no differently Why did the church direct its party to provide the critical swing than it had the Italian Catholic party, which it negotiated away in vote? It had its agenda, as we shall see below. the Concordat with Mussolini.

fa http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 Hitler sought to eliminate Catholic opposition in favor of obligato- Religious instruction and prayer in school were reinstated. ry loyaltyto his regime. For its part, the church was obsessed with its Criticism of the church was forbidden. Of course, nothing in the educational privileges," and especiallywith securing fresh sources of Concordat protected the rights of non-Catholics. income.It wouldwillinglysacrifice politicalpower to protect them. As If Catholic officials were disappointed with the Concordat's both sides worked in haste to produce a treaty that would normally terms, they did not show it, sending messages of congratulation to have required years to complete, Hitler took masterful advantage of the dictator. In Rome, a celebratory mass followedthe treaty's sign- Vatican overeagerness. Filled with "certainty that Rome neither ing by Papen and the future Pius XII amid great pomp and circum- could nor would turn back, [Hitler]was now able to steer the negoti- stance. In Germany, the church and the Berlin government held a ations almost as he wanted. The records prove he exploited the situ- joint service of thanksgiving that featured a mix of Catholic, Reich, ation to the full.'?"Indeed, Hitler was so confident that he had the and swastika banners and flags. The musical program mixed Church in his lap that he went ahead and promulgated his notorious hymns with a rousing performance of the repugnant Nazi anthem sterilization decree betore the Concordat's final signing.Hitler's pro- "Horst Wessel"-which was set, by the way, to the traditional hymn "HowGreat Thou Art." All of this was projected by loudspeaker to the enthusiastic crowd outside; as most German Catholics wel- "The Third Reich is the first world power which not only comed the Concordat, the thanksgiving service drew far more than acknowledges but also puts into practice the high principles Berlin's cathedral could hold. Scholder comments that "anyone who saw things from the of the papacy." Roman perspective could come to the conclusion that ... the treaty - From Papen, who made Hitler chancel/or and was ... an indescribable success for Catholicism. Even a year helped negotiate the Concordat of 1933 before, the Holy See had only been able to dream of the concessions which the concordat contained .... On the Catholic side the concor- dat was accordingly described as 'something very great: indeed as nothing short of a 'masterpiece.'?" Catholic response was so exu- berant that Hitler felt it necessary to defend himself to Protestant "It is to be hoped and desired that, like the Zentrum, and the clerics and Nazi radicals who viewed this sudden amity with Rome Bavarian People's Party, so too the other parties which stand as a betrayal. on Christian principles and which now also include the The practical results of the collaboration were clear enough. National Socialist Party, now the strongest party in the Most Catholics "soon adjusted to the dictatorship?"; indeed they Reichstag, will use every means to hold off the cultural flocked to the Party. Post-Concordat voting patterns suggest that Bolshevising of Germany, which is on the march behind the Catholics, on average, even outdid Protestants in supporting the Communist Party." regime, further undermining any efforts by the clergy to challenge Nazi policies. In any case much ofthe Catholic clergy was Nazifying. - Views of the future Pius XII to Cardinal Ritter after Even the idiosyncratic S.S. welcomed Catholics, who would ulti- the 1932 elections mately compose a quarter of its membership. The Concordat's disastrous consequences cannot be exagger- ated. It bound all devout German Catholics to the state-the clergy through an oath and income, the laity through the authority of the "Hitlerdid well in monastery school. church. If at any time the regime chose not to honor the agreement, Catholics had no open legal right to oppose it or its policies. He sang in the choir, found High Mass Opponents of Nazism, Catholic and non-Catholic, were further dis- couraged and marginalized because the church had shown such and other ceremonies intoxicating, want of moral fiber and consistency. and idolized priests. Impressed by their Apologists have insisted that the church had no choice but to accept the Concordat for the modest protections it provided. But power, he at one time considered those provisions were never needed. Major Protestant denomina- tions suffered no more than Catholicism, though the Protestant entering the priesthood:' churches lacked protective agreements and had snubbed Hitler's early attempt to unite them. Apologists make much of Vatican ject for involuntary sterilization ofminorities and the mentally illwas "resistance" to azism, but the net effect of Vatican policy toward an direct affront to Catholic teaching. But as Hitler surmised, not Hitler was collaborative. even this provocationcoulddeflectthe HolySee in its rush toward the Indeed, the 1933Concordat stands as one of the most unethical, Concordat. Because ordinary Catholics largely supported the Nazis, corrupt, duplicitous, and dangerous agreements ever forged the party even felt free to use violence against the remaining politi- between two authoritarian powers. Perhaps the Catholic strategy cally active Catholics, frequently disrupting their rallies. was to outlast the Nazi's frankly popular tyranny rather than try to Signed on July 20, 1933,the Concordat was a tait accompli, the bring it down. But the Catholic Church made no attempt to revoke negotiations having been conducted largely in secret. Most German the Concordat and its loyalty clause during the Nazi regime. Indeed, bishops gave their loyal, though impotent, approval to the pact that the 1933 Concordat is the only diplomatic accord negotiated with would strip away their power.A fewbishops objected, criticizing the the Nazi regime that remains in force anywhere in the world. Nazi regime's lack of morality (but never its lack of democracy). Germany's Protestant sects were too decentralized to be The Concordat was a classic political kickback scheme. The coopted by a single document. To this extent Protestants who dis- church supported the new dictatorship by endorsing the end of puted azi policies could be said to enjoy a more favorable posi- democracy and free speech. In addition it bound its bishops to tion than Catholics. But opposition was rare among Protestants Hitler's Reich by means of a loyalty oath. In exchange the church too. Hitler cynically courted the major denominations even as received enormous tax income and protection for church privileges. they cynically courted him. Most smaller traditional Christian

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sects did little better. For example, Germany's Mormons and Seventh-Day Adventists bent over backwards to accommodate National Socialism."

CHRISTIAN COMFORT WITH THE RISING REGIME Catholics and Protestants at first embraced the new German order. Germany was regaining international prestige, the economy improving thanks to growing overseas support." Industrialists like Henry Ford invested heavily in the new Reich. German Christians also looked to the Nazis for a revival of "Christian" values to help counter the rise of nontheism. Most welcomed the Nazis' elimina- tion of chronic public strife by terrorizing, imprisoning, and killing the fast-shrinking German Left. The leftists had long been despised by traditionalists, who composed four fifths of the population. The state purged a far higher proportion of atheists than traditional Christians. In newspapers and newsreels the Nazis proudly publi- cized their new concentration camps. Reports sanitized the camps' true nature, but no one could mistake that they were part of a new police state-to which most German followers of Jesus raised no objection. The very high rate of "legal" executions reported in the press also met with mass indifference or positive approval. Far from being hapless victims, the great bulk of German Christians joined, eagerly supported, collaborated with, or accom- modated to a greater or lesser degree, the new tyranny. HITLER: THE POPULAR OPPRESSOR Apologists for Christian conduct during the Nazi era imagine that the regime suppressed dissent ruthlessly, no matter whom-or how many-it needed to slaughter to achieve its ends. Hitler's regime is portrayed as Stalinesque in its response to dissent. This simplistic view reveals a failure to understand the complicated actuality of a popular terror state. The keyword is popular: Hitler was Europe's most popular leader, and his goal was universal Aryan support. The Party obsessively tracked public opinion, something never seen in A German soldier in winter uniform on motorcycle. the USSR." Before the war, foreign tourism was encouraged; Hitler knew most Germans would speak well of the Reich to visitors, in sharp contrast to the USSR, whose leaders prudently feared inter- action between foreigners and a citizenry of dubious loyalty During most of the Reich, any unprovoked attempt to liberate Germany would have met fierce majority resistance. Though there were assassination attempts, the top Nazis had little to fear from ordinary Germans." Hitler's personal security was shockingly lax; Goering regularly drove his open convertible around Berlin. If the apologists were right, we should expect the Gestapo to have been a massive organization, relentlessly searching out and crushing widespread dissent. Analysis of surviving Gestapo records reveals that in fact it was surprisingly small." Germany's Christian popula- tion being largely satisfied, there was little resistance to suppress. Most cases the Gestapo handled were initiated by ordinary citizens looking to settle petty disputes and had no ideological content. The Fuhrer had been successful in buying off his Aryans with false egalitarian prosperity, stolen Jewish wealth, and his refusal to put Deutschland on a full war footing until well into the war. During the The inscription on his belt buckle translates "God With Us." early war years civilians were under much tighter control in subma- rine-blockaded England than in Germany Since nearly all Aryans were that doing so would have been ideological and racial suicide, the record Protestant and Catholic, Hitler had to keep both sects reasonably makes clear that Hitler's intention was to reform and standardize happy, and he did. After all, the main focus of Nationalist Socialism was Aryans' political, social, and ultimately their religious beliefs, not to to make the divinely favored Aryan Volk,both Protestant and Catholic, purge them or to kill off groups of Aryans. Doing that would have gross- thrive in order to transform the German population into a unified ly violated Nazi doctrine, undermined the myth of Aryan solidarity, machine of domination over the lesser peoples. Contrary to Catholic grievously weakened the state, and risked religious civil wan Disloyalty apologists, the nominally Catholic Hitler had not the slightest desire to of the Catholic third of the population would have been disastrous to a slaughter masses of the very Aryan people to whom he belonged, and modest-sized nation trying to expand its resources in preparation for whom he wanted to elevate to supreme power. Leaving aside the fact epic wars of conquest; it was this fact, not the Concordat, that would be

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 the main constraint on Nazi actions. For that reason, apologist claims ceaseless harassment. Oriented toward family values as they were, that thousands or millions of Catholics and Protestants would have the Nazis could not decide how to handle these Jews without violat- joined the Jews had they protested Nazis policies are false. The proof ing the sanctity of marriage. Early in 1943, Goebbels, then in charge is found in the historical record. of Berlin, decided it was time to cleanse the capital by rounding up these last Jews. Hitler agreed. Some 2,000 Jewish men from mixed ROSENSTRASSE: THE POWER OF RESISTANCE marriages were seized and taken to a large downtown building on the Far from exercising absolute power at home, Hitler often discontin- Rosenstrasse, from which they would be deported to the camps. ued, modified, 01' concealed initiatives that threatened his regime's For a week their Gentile wives stood in the winter cold, chanting precious popular approval. Stout public objection could and repeat- "We want our husbands back!" Ordinary Germans sometimes joined edly did alter Nazi behavior. Flummoxed when the Protestant them. All told, the protests involved about 6,000 people. They contin- churches refused to unite, Hitler deferred his grand effort to reform ued in the face of S.S. and Gestapo threats, even threats to use German Christianity to a dreamlike utopian future. Later attempts machine guns. They continued though British bombers pounded the by Nazi authorities to hamper church activities were often frustrat- city by night. But the Nazis dared not fire upon these defenseless, ed by sizeable demonstrations." When Party elements stripped unorganized Aryan women. Berliners saw the protests directly. Bavarian schools of their crucifixes without Hitler's approval, vig- Foreign diplomats spread word of it to the world press. The British Broadcasting Company broadcast the story back into Germany.

"His Holiness Pope Pius XI and the President of the German Reich, moved by a common desire to consolidate and enhance the friendly relations existing between the Holy See "European fascism was the fruit of a and the German Reich ... have agreed to the following arti- Christian culture. Millions of Christians cles." actively supported these notorious - Opening of the 1933 concordat between the Holy See and Hitler's Reich regimes. Thousands participated in their atrocities!'

"God gave the savior to the German people. We have faith, deep and unshakeable faith, that (Hitler) was sent by God to What was the outcome of azi Germany's only mass demonstra- tion to save Jews? The 2,000 Jewish husbands were released with save Germany." Hitler's approval. Two dozen who had already been sent to - Goering Auschwitz were returned. Jewish-Christian couples continued to live openly and survived the war. They would comprise the great majority of German Jewish survivors. orous protests by, among others, the mothers of schoolchildren Goebbels later commented to an associate that the regime quickly brought about their replacement.'! When Hitler denounced relented "in order to eliminate the protest from the world, so that Protestant opposition bishops Hans Meiser and Theophil Wurm and others didn't begin to do the same." Sadly, this strategy was suc- ordered their ouster, public anger boiled over. One protest drew cessful: during the rest of the war, no similar action would ever be 7,000 demonstrators. Hitler reversed course and reinstated Meiser taken in defense of Jews in general. and Wurm with fulsome praise. Strong opposition to the mass Nor does this exhaust the catalogue of successful opposition. killing of the mentally disabled circa 1941 drove it further under- When Goebbels called for mass employment of housewives in war ground, saving many lives, even though this program too enjoyed industries, also early in 1943, refusal was widespread. Again, the Fuhrer's approval. reprisals were rare, partly because of the regime's established This is not to say that protesters courted no danger. Opposition emphasis on traditional roles fOI' women. On a broader scale, figures were frequently harassed, sometimes killed. But the top Germans who refused to participate in atrocities-even if they were Nazis knew how limited their power was. When regime officials con- soldiers, party members, or S.S. men-almost never suffered retal- templated forcing the removal of Muenster's Catholic bishop, iation. This was so well known that, after the war, Nazis accused of Clemens Galen, Goebbels warned that the "the population of war crimes were forbidden to claim fear of retaliation as a defense. Muenster could be regarded as lost during the war if anything were These incidents suggest that the Nazi regime was at root coward- done against the bishop ... [indeed] the whole of [the state] of ly, happy to pick on the weak and disorganized but intimidated by Westphalia."" Though Galen suffered harassment, he remained public demonstrations. When it came to the Yolk, Nazi leaders pre- active throughout the war and held his office. ferred propaganda, education, persuasion, and social pressure to ter- In occupied countries from orway to Italy, residents success- ror. They knew that terror worked best when its objective was sup- fully opposed Nazi racial policies and saved hundreds of thousands ported by many and opposed by few. Only toward the end of the war of Jews. In Denmark, political and ecclesiastical leaders forcefully was widespread domestic terror resorted to in Germany, and it was protested Nazi policies; the whole nation worked under the noses of often ineffective. the Gestapo to save almost all of Denmark's Jews. Neither leaders Clearly ordinary citizens could oppose and alter state policy, all or citizens suffered severe retaliation. French bishops who opposed the more so if powerful nongovernemental institutions supported Nazi actions against Jews likewise survived the war. them." As Sarah Gordon comments, the "failure of German church- Most extraordinary and telling is the Rosenstrasse incident." es to speak out against racial persecution is a disgrace ... because Some 30,000 Jews lived openly in Germany as the spouses of the Nazis feared the propaganda or political power of the church- Christians. Nine in ten such marriages remained intact despite es, it is almost certain that church leaders could have spoken out

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more vehemently against racial persecution.''" The apologist claim that Germany's traditional Christians were 2003) is the first attempt to detail the religious beliefs of the Nazis. impotent in the face of Nazi terror is an exaggeration on a scale that 17. Christian defenders frequently cite Table Talk, which presents Goebbels might have appreciated. As the wives of Berlin discovered, some of Hitler's most vehement anti-Christian statements. But main- Christians had the power to protect the lives and well-being of oth- stream historians find TableTalk unreliable. It consists of private con- ers and the potential to confound Hitler and his minions. Had they versations recorded in the 1940s by two secretaries, one of whom later wished to, they need only have applied it. OIl said that "no confidence" should be placed in the final volume because the compiler-Bormann, even by Nazi standards a deceptive opportunist and much more anti-Christian than Hitler-destroyed the original tran- To be continued in the December 2003/January 2004 issue of FREE scripts. Still, even as presented in Table Talk, Hitler usually attacks INQUIRY.The complete compilation of eXCe17Jtsfrom material link- Judeo-Christianity, not Christ. Hitler lauds Christ as a divine Aryan. ing Christianity and Nazism (featured in boxed quotations here) is 18. Timothy Ryback, "Hitler's Forgotten Library," Atlantic Monthly available on the Web at www.secularhu.l1lnnism.org/textexce1.]Jts. Tim 29, no. 4 (May 2003), expresses naive surprise at how interested Hitler was in reading about religion. Oddly, Ryback's conclusion, that Hitler Binga, director of the Center for Inquiry Libraries, contributed addi- saw himself as God, is contrary to the quote Ryback cites in support of tional research in the preparation of this article. his hypothesis. 19. The regime put an original edition of On theJewsand TheirLies on display and celebrated Luther's 450th birthday in 1933 on massive scale. 20. See Steigman-Gall. Notes 21. Neopaganism was far more prevalent in the S.S. than in German society as a whole; even according to Party statistics, paganism never 1. Nazism and fascism are considered secular, atheistic, or both, in, claimed more than 5 percent of the general population. among other sources, David Barrett, George Kurian, and Todd Johnson, 22. See Steigman-Gali. eds., World Christian. Encyclopedia: A Comparatiue Study of 23. Contrary to common belief, the Nazis never operated state sex- Churches and Religions in the Modern World (Oxford: Oxford for-procreation facilities. On the other hand, Nazi "culture" was not University Press, 2001). exceptionally prudish; home movies of the era show young women lying 2. Seminal studies by mainstream, nonpolemical researchers include topless on the beach, and kitsch nudity was common in Nazi art. Robert Gellately, Backing Hitter: Consent and Coercion in Nazi 24. Scholder vol. 1, p. 130. Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001); Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 25. See Scholder vols. 1 and 2, Kershaw pp. 488-90 and 324, and 1889-1936: Hubris (New York: W W Norton, 1998) and Hitler: Gellately p. 14, whose Backing Hitler is a precedent-setting historical 1936-1945: Nemesis (London: Allen Lane, 2000); Klaus Scholder, The examination based in part on examination of surviving Gestapo records. Churchesand the Third Reich vols. 1 and 2 (philadelphia: Fortress Religion was not a primary focus of the study, but what Gellately includes Press, 1979 [English version, 1988]); Nathan Stoltzfus, Resistanceof the on this topic is damning. See also Gordon, who gives a balanced account Heart: The Rosenstrasse Protest and Intermarriage in Nazi of church collaboration and resistance. Germany (New York: ww. Norton, 1997); Beth Griech-Polelle, Bishop 26. See Scholder vol. 1, pp. 37-51 and 74-87. von Galen: German Catholicism and National Socialism (New 27. Ibid., p. 253. Haven: Yale University Press, 2002); and Sarah Gordon, Hitler, 28. Ronald RycWak, "Goldhagen v. Pius XII," First Things,June/July Germans,and the ''Jew·ishQuestion" (princeton: Princeton University 2002, pp. 37-54, offers a typically convoluted example of pro-Vatican spin Press, 1984). Also see John Patrick Michael Murphy, "Hitler Was Not an when he asserts that the concordat ''was a Nazi proposition. The Nazis Atheist," FREEINQUIRY19,no. 2 (Spring 1999). accepted terms that the Church had previously proposed to Weimar, but 3. See James Carroll, Constantine's Suiord: The Onurch. and the which Weimar had rejected." Jews (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2001) and David Kertzer, ThePope 29. See Seholder vol. 1, p. 241. Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti- 30. Ibid., pp. 241-43. Semitism.(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001). 31. A concordat already negotiated with Bavaria gave the church 4. http://www.us-israel.orgljsource/Judaism/jewpop.html. control of the schools. 5. Viewed in the context of more than 1,500 years of Christian vio- 32. Scholder vol. 1, p. 386. lence against Jews, the enormity of the Holocaust may as much reflect 33. Ibid., p. 405. the large populations and relatively advanced technologies of the time as 34. Gellately, p. 14. it does the virulence of Nazi anti-Semitism. Other Christian groups might 35. See Christine Elizabeth King, The Nazi State and the New have done the same thing earlier, had the technical means and a large Religions (New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1982). enough pool of potential victims been available. 36. Hitler and his fellow thugs had no idea how to run a modern econ- 6. Nowadays Islamic anti-Semites reprint Luther's work. omy. The Nazi economic "miracle" was a Potemktn-village scheme kept 7. Prior to World War I, many religious Germans viewed dying for the going, prior to the takeovers of other nations, by selling off Germany's Fatherland as being on a par with Christian martyrdom; reluctance to gold reserves and taking out international loans that could never be paid die in battle was considered blasphemous. back. 8. After Vatican I, the Roman Catholic clergy was required to take an 37. See Gellately. oath against modernity. 38. Hitler missed by minutes beiug killed by a bomb a few months 9. Aryan Christianity continues to exist; contemporary U.S. exam- after invading Poland. Pope Pius XIl sent the Fuhrer his "special person- ples include Christian Identity, Aryan Nation, and other extremist racist al congratulations." sects. 39. See Gellately, p. 39. 10. In Aryan Christian doctrine, Christ was non-Semitic because he 40. See Griech-Polelle, pp. 36-37. did not have a Jewish father. His assault on the Temple was taken as evi- 41. Nazi politics were as peculiar as its theology. Hitler avoided com- dence of his anti-Semitism. Christianity's false association with Judaism mitting himself on tangential issues to protect his popularity and keep was blamed on St. Paul. his options open. This, coupled with Hitler's harsh survival-of-the-fittest 11. Thus the extremist Christian term mud people. Jews' lack of a view of power, fueled chronic, often vicious intraparty battles that cou- soul was held to explain their supposed lack of interest in spirituality trihuted to the chaos of the regime. In ''working towards the FUhrer," and the afterlife and their focus on material gain. party functionaries often went beyond what Hitler wanted done, at least 12. For example, the Catholic Volkist Dietrich Eckart, later a friend in the short term; the Bavarian crucifix debacle is a good example of this and mentor to Hitler, wrote in 1917 that "to be an Aryan and to sense tendency. transcendence is one and the same thing," yet described Nietzsche as 42. Cited in Gellately, Kershaw, p. 429, and Gordon. the "crazy despiser of our religious foundations." 43. See Stoltzfus, pp. 209-57. 13. Gregory Paul, "The Secular Revolution of the West: It's Passed 44. Hitler fared little better in international affairs; even when he was America By-So Far," FREEINQUIRY22,no. 3 (Summer 2002). master of continental Europe, his power had limits. His supposed ally 14. Ibid. Franco politely told the vexed FUhrer to take a hike when he pressed for 15. See Scholder vol. 1., p.12. Spain to enter the war against the allies. Hitler found himself forced to 16. Richard Steigmann-Gall, TheHoly Reich:Nazi Conceptionsof negotiate with the Vichy French government he had helped to install over Christianity 1919-1945 (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, the same matter, and it too refused to budge. 45. Gordon, p. 261.

http://www. secu Iarh uman i sm .org f H October/November 2003 The Awakening of a ONE WOMAN'S STRUGGLE TO ESCAPE Jehovah's Witness Diane Wilson

the organization or my daughter. In discussing my concern about such disturbing episodes with my therapist, he explained: "The emotional turmoil results in paralysis; how could you possibly act, when you feel so divided? And no matter where you turn, you're stuck because illions have fallen victim to the deceptions you're turning against a part of you.'" and influence of the persuasive, seductive, I then realized that the only way out of this dilemma was to cultlike religious group known as Jehovah's acknowledge my feelings and doubts about the organization that I had Witnesses under the leadership of the Watchtower Society The public suppressed for so long, and what it meant that I was having them. But needs to be alerted to the lures that this group uses to ensnare inno- doing so was extremely frightening, because trying to face up to my cent people. It needs to be protected against wasting many precious doubts nine years ago had only resulted in panic attacks and anguish years awaiting the fulfillment of promises about a future world gov- that ultimately drove me back into the organization. This time, though, ernment under the Watchtower Society I knew I would have to see it through, as my body would not cooperate I spent about twenty-five years of my adult life in this Christian with the charade any longer. sect. In the article that follows, I examine my I knew that the physical ailments which frequently rendered me vulnerability to the Witnesses' enticements, the unable to go to the Kingdom Hall (Jehovah's horrendous psychological struggles I experi- Witnesses church) meetings were likely emo- enced while trying to escape, and how a psy- tionally induced. Because the Society viewed a chologist finally helped me to succeed in break- deliberate decision to stay away from the meet- ing free from their grasp. My hope is that read- ings as extremely sinful, I forced myself to go ers will take away with them an increased whenever possible and suffered the physical understanding of how extremely difficult leav- consequences of feeling so divided. One day ing a legalistic, controlling group like Jehovah's while driving to the Kingdom Hall, I suddenly Witnesses can be-even when a person desper- burst into tears, crying out, "Please, God, let ately wants to. Telling my story was an impor- this religion not be the truth!" tant part of my healing process. I explained to my therapist that even though I wanted to be freed from bondage to the orga- THE CRISIS OF FAITH nization, having my entire belief system turned In obedience to the organization, forcing myself inside out was still a terrifying experience. He to "do what is right," I shunned my daughter responded: "You feel you've been living a lie, in (who had left the Jehovah's Witnesses) for some respects, and now you're trying to disen- three months. The elders told me that this was tangle yourself from that, and that is going to be the only way to show true love for her and that painful. But, that doesn't mean it's not better Jehovah was displeased with her, to make her for you, too." "turn around" and come back to the organiza- One day I was cleaning my house, frantical- tion-her only hope of salvation. However, ly trying to make order out of the disorder that iguoring my daughter and behaving as if she I suddenly saw everywhere. My exasperation were dead did not feel like an act of love. It did flared to anger. I stormed into my next therapy not make sense to me; deep inside, it did not session exclaiming, "Nothing is in its place!" My feel right. But I believed that the organization therapist pointed out that the depth of my anger was the true religion, and thus bought into its view that my disagree- had gone far beyond that which the situation actually provoked and ments with it were rebellious and of Satan. that the frustration I was feeling with the disorganization of my house My confusion led to constant emotional turmoil. Whenever the was triggering the much greater frustration that I was feeling with the thought that the organization could possibly be wrong or not "of God" organization. There was general disarray in my life that my doubts entered my mind, my brain actually started to ache. I would feel and disagreements with the Society were causing. Truly nothing in my stunned and dizzy as the room seemed to spin around me, rendering life was in its place. me unable to think or make any decisions about my feelings regarding The internal anguish I felt as a result of years of iguoring my feel- ings and thoughts had become too great to ignore, yet it was difficult Diane Wilson is the author of Awakening of a Jehovah's Witness: for me to see beyond the immediate pain that leaving the organization Escape from the Watchtower Society (Prometheus Books, 2002), from would cause. Thinking about breaking away struck terror in my heart. which this article is adapted. Trying to discuss it with my therapist would often result in my feeling

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extremely dizzy, as if I were sitting amidst a huge whirlwind. My able to say, thus developing a dependency on the leadership of others. thoughts seemed so jumbled that at times I couldn't even remember Because my mother treated me like a child throughout my adolescent what my therapist had said during our discussions. Often my sessions years, part of me emotionally stayed childlike; consequently, 1 devel- were interrupted by my going into spontaneous "stunned mode"-an oped an impaired capacity to question critically anything I was told. emotional state characterized by "paralysis" of my brain, a kind of As a result of my mother's unstable behavior, 1 developed a need for suspended animation of my ability to think. At times this would cause absolute answers, order, stability, and rules in order to feel safe and me to experience a hallucination of sorts, during which my therapist secure. seemed to be moving physically farther and farther away from me, The sting of my mother's flyswatter was later replaced by the sting causing me to feel isolated and alone. Although I cognitively knew his of her words: "1can't wait until you find a boyfriend, so you can leave!" chair remained in the same place in the consulting room, and I felt he Her inferred message, "Youcan't take care of yourself; you need some- was right there with me emotionally in trying to sort things out, still one to take care of you," left its impression on my mind as deeply as if this aberration was extremely frightening to experience. I felt this was it were seared there by a branding iron. I found escape in fantasies, a premonition of what my life would be like if I left the organization- fanciful daydreams, and fairytale books. I envied the "magic" with isolated and alone. which the characters' lives were played out; for no matter how bad Thinking about breaking away from the organization made me things became, there was always a rescuer who would come and save ache with an "empty" feeling. Through therapy, I learned that I had the "damsel in distress." 1believed that one day I would be "magical- carried that empty feeling with me from my abusive childhood into my ly" rescued, too. involvement with the organization. Since the organization likens itself to a parent, I had unwittingly developed a dependency on it in the hope that it would be a better "parent" than my own mother had been. "Whenever the thought that the Leaving would mean I was giving up the hope that being a Witness could ever fill this emptiness inside of me. I would have to find a way organization could possibly be to fill that "empty" feeling myself. wrong or not 'of God' entered THE ROOTS OF SUSCEPTIBILITY my mind, my brain actually "I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!" my mother shrieked, chas- ing me through the house, waving her torn and tattered flyswatter started to ache." furiously. The filthy wire mesh flyswatter, with its broken sharp strands protruding menacingly from its surface, was an object to be feared when in the flailing hand of my crazed mother. "I must have My desire to belong, lack of self-confidence, inability to express done something wrong!" I thought. I felt confused and frightened. criticism or doubt, gullibility, naive idealism, and low tolerance for Where could I hide to escape my mother's burning anger and the sting- ambiguity are the same predisposing factors that experts say can ing swipes of her flyswatter? cause a person to be more vulnerable to being seduced into a cultlike My mother's state of mind was inconsistent and unpredictable; I group' was the victim of her erratic mood swings, as her depression fre- quently and Without warning erupted in episodes of violent outbursts THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM of uncontrolled anger. She would behave lovingly toward me one The chance to talk to other Witnesses about my doubts in the hope moment but would blaze with rage against me the next. Often my ears that they would be sympathetic and I would thus obtain some cama- would ring in the aftermath of the frenzied eruption of profanities she raderie and support was remote. I had to be tight-lipped or else risk directed at me. I was beaten, mistreated, or punished if I questioned being betrayed by the Witness to whom I confided my reservations. I or criticized anything she said or did. would be forced to face judicial committee action by the elders, which As a young child, I loved to rollerskate outdoors; at times, however, would lead to chastisement, punishment, humiliation, ostracism, or I would trip and fall, scraping my knees on the rough macadam side- disfellowshipping. walk. My mother would laugh as she scrubbed my bleeding wounds But during one of the evenings that I stayed home from a Kingdom with a stiff brush while pouring burning antiseptic over them. My Hall meeting, I received a telephone call from a "sister" asking why I screams were met with a stinging slap that often left the imprint of her had not been attending the meetings regularly. I took a bold step and hand as a red welt on my face. expressed some of my complaints about the organization. These were A small red rocking chair became one of my favorite places of refuge; couched in quite guarded terms, however, due to my fear of her report- I found solace and comfort in its rhythmic movement and felt protected ing me to the elders for apostasy. To my surprise and delight, my open- as I snuggled in its strong cushioned frame. The chair, however, provid- ness led to her expressing some of her own uncertainties about the ed but an illusion of safety. Acting upon arbitrary whims, my mother organization! Having an honest conversation-an exchange of gen- would drag me out of the chair to the bathroom down the hallway, forc- uine feelings and thoughts-with another Witness felt wonderful. It ing enemas on me and striking me repeatedly to quell my resistance. My gave me a sense of connection that I had seldom felt during my cries of protest resulted in her thrusting a bar of soap into my mouth, involvement with the Witnesses. Although the Society forbids such grating it on my teeth if I clenched them shut to avoid its acrid taste. conversation, for some reason she was trusting me with her true feel- My mother abused me emotionally and physically in other ways as ings. She was depressed and crying over her frustration at being well throughout my childhood and adolescence. As a result of her arbi- unable to keep up with the Society's demands. And she was extreme- trary moods and degrading behavior, I felt uncertain of myself and my ly distraught by the belief that Jehovah would soon kill her daughter ability "to see things right." 1 learned at an early age that the world at Armageddon because she was not a Witness. was not a safe place, and that I was powerless, helpless, and vulnera- Suddenly, she seemed to "wake up" as to how open she was being and ble in the face of authority. abruptly exclaimed, "I can't feel this way! I have to act strong so I don't I grew up feeling rejected and worthless: the feeling of rejection led discourage others in the congregation!" Thus ow' conversation ended, to a compulsive desire to please others, hoping to win their approval; and she avoided talking with me thereafter. Seeing her facade, however, the feeling of worthlessness led to my thinking that I had nothing valu- made me acutely aware of my own pretense of being a Witness.

m http://www.secularhumanism .org f H October/November 2003 My attempts at asking the elders questions, and my expressions of ability to the organization's influencing me to believe that it was the frustration at their unsatisfying answers, were met with either the only path to God-the reasons were related to the way I grew up. shaming reply of "It is not possible to know everything! Where is your Because little children don't know any better, they tend to believe that faith?" or the avoidance reply of "Write to the Society!" The latter was they must have done something bad to deserve being beaten, yelled at, the usual response when an elder was cornered with a legitimate or otherwise mistreated; consequently, they go on guard all the time question about an inconsistent doctrine but it was a useless one, since for what they're doing wrong, and they carry that behavior with them my letters to the Society had gone unanswered. Instead of my ques- into adulthood. The part of me that my mother convinced me was tions being taken "off the shelf" and answered as I "matured spiritu- "bad" dovetailed with the organization's warnings that independent ally" in the organization, more questions continued to pile on, and now thoughts, personal opinions, or disagreements with them were bad- the shelf was breaking because of the load! so that I didn't question their authority, the ways they enforced their In my therapy session I brought up the conflict I was experiencing. rules, or their claim of being God's only channel of communication to I felt burdened, as if all my unanswered questions had been taken off humankind. My therapist assured me, "You're at the point where the shelf and put into a knapsack that I carried on my back every- you're going to start turning the situation around." Trusting him fully, where. The load seemed so heavy that I often felt immobilized, unable his comment gave me hope even though I could not fathom how that to act. My therapist reasoned, "Not being able to take action is was going to happen. One day, I broke into tears while desperately exclaiming to my therapist, "Who can fight against God, and win?" Looking at me with deepest sincerity, my therapist clarified, "In obedience to the organization, "You're not fighting against what God says. You're fighting against what they say God says." His statement marked a major turning point forcing myself to 'do what is right: in my struggle to break away from the Watchtower. I felt as if a win- I shunned my daughter for dow had opened up in my mind! I experienced incredible relief upon realizing the possibility that there may be another way to look at three months." things besides through Watchtower-colored lenses. Perhaps I had not been able to have a relationship with God because I had been having one with the organization instead. depressing; you get depressed because you get so paralyzed. Taking GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS action is what you can do to stop that feeling of helplessness." I approached my therapist one day with the concept of "good hyp- As desperate as I was to be convinced that the Society would have ocrites" and "bad hypocrites," and the thought that God would no effect on my destiny, at some level I still believed it was God's chan- approve of a person who was a "good hypocrite." A "bad hypocrite" nel and that my life hinged on obedience to it. Unable to separate would be the person who says he is one of Jehovah's Witnesses, but myself from the organization, the rage I felt with it turned back onto doesn't live his life in accordance with their rules and principles. A myself. One day I cried out to my therapist, "I fear this religion is the "good hypocrite" would be the person who applies all of the Witness truth, and that I'm just wicked for being unable to accept it anymore!" rules and principles in her life because she believes or fears the orga- I kept telling myself, "You're going to die!" There was no escaping the nization is of God, but hates doing it. My therapist said, "Going to the nagging fear that my disagreements with the Society would cause meetings, doing the works, but not believing it all. If only you were a Jehovah to have nothing to do with me until He killed me at hypocrite, you'd be saved?" Armageddon. Perhaps the idea of hypocrisy being the route to salvation made Feeling my pain, my therapist acknowledged, "It sounds like you're sense to me because my experience in the organization had been that just really being tortured by this." its leaders were not very concerned with what was in one's heart, the Indeed, I was in anguish. Being in the organization had come to emphasis being placed on one's physical behavior instead. I remember feel like I was locked in a room that had no windows and was sur- a sister expressing to a circuit overseer that she didn't want to go out rounded on the outside by blackness and death. If I stayed in the room, in the house-to-house preaching work one morning, but she forced I felt I would suffocate, for the organization gave no space to breathe herself to get ready nevertheless. She sighed as she confessed that she and had no capacity to admit its errors or allow its members freedom knew it wouldn't count with Jehovah, since her heart was not in the of conscience to have their own opinions. If I left the room, I felt I work. The circuit overseer (a Jehovah's Witness elder who supervises would die, for the Society had implanted in its members the phobia a group of congregations), however, responded that it is a person's that certain death lay outside of it. "The organization, the place I once actions that matter; thus he insisted that her coming out in field ser- ran to for safety, is sucking me under!" I bewailed to my therapist. vice that morning did count with God, despite the fact that her heart "They can take away my family!" was far removed from it. I disagreed with the circuit overseer's state- Moved by my grief, my therapist observed, "It's sad that the orga- ment, for I believed that what was in a person's heart was most impor- nization is so riveting, that you can't get out of it." He reminded me tant. about how, as a child, I curled up into a ball when my mother hit me. Cautiously and with great sensitivity, my therapist noted: "It My feeling of being "paralyzed" now was the adult parallel of that sounds like in your heart, you've already left the organization." Jarred reaction. He gently helped me to understand that curling up into a ball and taken aback by words that cut through my denial, bringing to my was not my only choice this time. I could take care of myself now that consciousness feelings that had been repressed, I now realized that I was an adult. Yet to take control of my life by leaving the organiza- for a long time I had just been going through the motions of being a tion still felt like certain suicide. I felt condemned for hating God's Witness. Since I believed that God can read the heart, what good was organization, the only means to salvation. Stimulating me to think, my continuing in the organization doing me? therapist asked, "So, this religion is the only vehicle for salvation? Another day, I complained to my therapist that I felt as if a heavy What allows you to buy into the idea that this is the only way to look weight were pressing down on me, making it difficult for me to even get at it?" up from the chair that I was sitting in. As we sat in silence for a few He explained that there were psychological reasons for my vulner- moments, my therapist sharing in my pain, I noticed that he possessed

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an inner peace, a peace I wondered if I would ever experience. I After months of research, I learned that the Watchtower Society expressed how terrorized Iwas, due to feeling like an ominously mas- exhibited cultlike characteristics and was guilty of false prophecy sive weight were suspended over me, poised to crash down and crush many times over. I found it impossible to believe that Jesus had chosen me at any moment. He asked me what the "heavy weight" was. I this organization, so riddled with falsehood, on which to establish the responded, "God." only true religion. I concluded that the authority of the Watchtower He then said, "But your sense of God is that He reads your heart. Society is a false authority, and it has set up a false need for others to So if you're being honest now and saying, 'I don't believe the organi- believe in it. zation is of God,' isn't that somehow being in better relationship to God When I was a Jehovah's Witness, if anyone had asked me if I were than when you were pretending to go through the motions and not a Witness by my own free will, I would have said "Yes." But the fact being honest about it?" As I understood the sense of his reasoning, I that when I desperately wanted to leave the organization, I found felt great relief as the heavy weight disappeared. myself unable to suggests that something more was in play. The pieces Ichuckled with amusement one day as Itold my therapist of absurd of the puzzle began to fall into place when Ilearned about mind con- statements I had read in a Watchtower magazine, which proclaimed trol and the techniques it employs. The suffering the organization has that the Lord Himself had given organizational instructions to the caused its members is unconscionable. Society for all Witnesses to participate in the preaching work at least My life as one of Jehovah's Witnesses had corne to resemble living sixty hours a month, and to call on all the homes in each congrega- in a toxic cocoon-it was suffocating my spirit, my individuality, and tion's territory at least four times every six months.' My therapist my respect for myself. Living my life in the organization had ultimate- thought for a moment, and then asked me a very thought-provoking ly become even more painful than leaving it. I finally was able to dis- question: "Why do you think it's ridiculous that the Society said those associate myself from the organization. I felt joy for having been things, but you don't think it's ridiculous when they say you'll die if you released from bondage to the dictates of men, and I felt triumphant for leave the organization? Why do you suppose that would be?" having reclaimed my mind and my life. Oil He helped me to see that the threat of death that I was feeling as a result of my disagreements with the Society had its roots in my traumat- ic childhood, where it literally felt like death to disobey my mother. My therapist pointed out, "The organization abuses people just like an addic- tion does. It takes away your autonomy, your choices, and your freedom."

FACING THE FUTURE My dependency on the organization and my fear of it caused me to tol- erate that abuse, because like an addiction, the fear of leaving it was worse than staying in it. The price was too high: withdrawal from it was too scary, too painful, and too death defying. I was at the point, however, where I needed to deal with this dilemma. I also needed to make a decision about my relationship with my daughter. I was terrified that Jehovah would kill me if I had a relationship with my daughter. Obsessed with guilt, Ifinally decided to write to her. We exchanged a series of emotionally charged letters, then I went to visit her. My husband informed the elders about the letters and the visit; they confronted me the next day. Iwas shocked when they told me that, as long as I kept my relationship with my daughter a secret from other Witnesses, they would not disfellowship me. Their decision meant that I could no longer hide behind the screen of my daughter. The battle with the Watchtower Society was now mine alone. I researched the history of the organization to see if there was any support for its claim of divine spiritual authority. Often the material my investigation uncovered caused enormous rage within me about the ways the organization had abused its followers. At other times, how- ever, I felt like the Society really was God's organization=-albelt a very * In Western societies, late December is the "holiday season." People wish imperfect one-and that I was leaving the only true religion. Feelings each other a happy holiday assuming that everybody is celebrating one of of immobility and numbness would hit me in waves, arresting my the major religious holidays or is at least sharing the spirit of good cheer scrutiny of the organization for weeks at a time. Eventually, the waves created by these holidays. * HumanLight allows Humanists to celebrate of doubt and fear would recede, and I would take up my analysis with also and express their good wishes to others in a spirit of hope, love, and renewed fervor. Trying to break free of the Witnesses was the toughest understanding, Over time, as more Humanists join in the celebration, thing I had ever tried to do. * HumanLight will become the proverbial "candle in the dark," suggesting that the hope for our future rests on human accomplishments, guided first Notes and foremost by the unique human capacity of reason. 1. The part of this work that relates to my psychotherapy expe- rience quotes my therapist as making various statements; these Celebrate HumanLight on or around December quotes are drawn from my therapy journal notes and my remem- 23rd with your organization, group or family. brances of my therapy experience, and thus mayor may not be pre- cisely what was said. Check the web site for a celebration near you 2. Madeleine L. Tobias and Janja Lalich, Captive Hearts, and more information. Captive Minds (Alameda, Calif.: Hunter House, 1994), pp. 27-28. 3. Watchtower, July 1, 1943, p. 205. www.humanlight.org

http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 Islam and the Liberation of SEPARATION OF MOSQUE AND STATE IS THE ONLY ANSWER Women in the Middle East Azam Kamguian

Postmodernist, neo-colonialist kind of oppression. They say that all reli- gions regard women as inferior. They fail to take into account that Islam is largely unrestricted by secularism and the secular states that in the West have restricted Christianity's power over women's lives. This atti- omen's status in Middle Eastern soci- tude is obvious in the followi.ngwords of NawaJ EI Saadawi: eties has aroused great interest recent- ly. What role do Islamic ideology and I've noticed that many people including professors of religion and Islamic studies, pick up one verse and say that in the QUI"an, God allowed men practice play in the oppression of women in the region and other soci- to beat women. They don't compare it to other verses. They also don't eties where Islam holds sway? compare the Qur'an to the Bible. If you do, you will find the Bible more Few would argue that the situation of Middle Eastern women can oppressive to women.' be understood without reference to Islam. Although no two Middle Eastern countries have identical legal-religious systems, women are According to El Saadawi, women in the Middle East are oppressed not second-class citizens in all of them. But the position of women in the because they live under the rule of Islam or belong to the East, but as region cannot be understood without a thorough appreciation of the a result of the patriarchal class system that has dominated the world economic and political contexts in which they live, in addition to for thousands of years. In her view; the struggle for women's civil lib- Islam's long-standing influence. erties, individual freedom, and secularism have no significance. In this There are many schools of thought in this debate. One group discourse, patriarchy is used as a blanket term to disguise Islam's denies that the great majority of women are any more oppressed than role in the oppression of women. Every aspect of women's subordina- are non-Middle Eastern women. A second group says that oppression tion in the Middle East is inaccurately labeled as the result of patri- is real but extrinsic to Islam and the Qur'an-which, they say, intend- archy. If Islam has no effect on women's status, why is the position of ed gender equality but has been undermined by Arabic patriarchy and women in the Middle East worse than in any other part of the world? foreign influence. ISLAMIC RESISTANCE TO WOMEN'S RIGHTS Historically, Islam has resisted women's rights, secularism, and mod- ernization. Dramatic differences between the East and non-Muslim HAlthough no two Middle Eastern West emerged in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Economic and social changes, along with the impact of exposure to Western cul- countries have identical legal-reli- ture, gave rise to forces within Middle Eastern societies that favored gious systems, women are second- changes in the condition of women. Starting in the early nineteenth century, the process of change set in motion by Western influence led class citizens in all of them." to broadly positive outcomes, as mechanisms [or controlling women and excluding them from major domains of activity in their society were gradually dismantled. At first this didn't involve legal changes, but rather such things as Among intellectuals and in the academic world, any attempt to education. Western economic penetration of the Middle East and the blame Islam for women's oppression is stamped as Orientalism. Those exposure of Middle Eastern societies to Western political thought and who defend Islam against Western critiques focus on proving the "pro- ideas did little to dismantle either Islamic law or the backward social gressive" nature of the Our'an, Hadith, and Sharia, either by denying institutions oppressive to women. Changes in Islamic law pertaining the low status of women in Middle Eastern societies, or by attributing to women, especially changes to law set forth in the Our'an, have met it to pre-Islamic traditions and the contemporary political Islamic with considerable resistance. The leaders of nationalistic factions movement. viewed any proposed changes in the status of women in society as Many feminists and academic intellectuals apologize for Islam by Western intrusion into their last sphere of control. They had already saying that such practices as veiling women and female genital mutila- seen Western inroads upon tbeir sovereignty and their economies. tion are not restricted to Middle Eastern societies. Some say that Islamists saw modern vaJues such as women's rights as a Western women who wear make-up in the West are just as oppressed, but it is a conspiracy accompanying the political and economic offensive and turned to tbeir own traditions as a cultural reaction. For an early AzamKamguian is an activist and writer engagedin issuesaffect- example, when Napoleon came to Egypt, the wearing of the veil ing women in the Middle East. This article is adapted from her increased as a reaction to the French presence. speechdelivered at Council for Secular Humanism's conference, Men were prominent in the early struggles to improve the condi- "OneNation without God?"in Washington,D.C.,in April 2003. tion of women in Islamic society, but from the beginning women, too,

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were involved. For the first time in the history of Islam, the veil and laws that deny women equal access to divorce and child custody. other issues such as polygamy, divorce, and segregation were openly Throughout the region, Arab women who marry foreigners are discussed in Middle Eastern society. Advocacy for women's rights denied the right to extend citizenship to their husbands. Furthermore became widespread in the twentieth century. Modernization further only fathers, not mothers, can independently pass citizenship to their improved women's position. As women's economic and social situa- children. In many cases, where a woman has been widowed, divorced, tion improved, ideologues struggled with how to reconcile the changes or abandoned, or if her husband is not a national in the country where with Islamic law. Women figured more prominently in public life and the couple reside, her children have no access to citizenship or its took a role in the history-making nation building of Turkey and rights. These rights include access to education, health care, land own- Tunisia, which led to further secularization and economic moderniza- ership, and inheritance. There is no such obstacle to men who wish to tion. extend tbeir nationality to their wives and children. This inequality not But establishment Islam and Middle Eastern governments continue only denies women their right as citizens; it also denies children their to cling to the law as the cornerstone of Islamic oppression of women. basic rights as human beings. That it is still preserved almost intact signals the existence of enor- If the law is designed to protect women only within their role in the mously powerful Islamist and traditionalist forces. Calls for reformist family, it will fail to protect those who need protection from their fam- interpretations such as stressing the "egalitarian spirit of the Our'an" and reshaping Sharia by reinterpreting the Qur'an mainly arose because of a rapidly changing economy and society experiencing the influence of the West. Legal reforms have targeted areas where the law IIIf Islam has no effect on women's was not egalitarian, such as divorce, polygamy, and marriage age. Some progress has been made: men must now justify their demand for status, why is the position divorce or practice of polygamy to the courts. of women in the Middle East POLITICAL ISLAM worse than in any other part In recent decades the rise of political Islam has rolled back women's of the world?" rights and impoverished their lives across the region. Political Islam as a political movement arose in reaction to secular and progressive liberation movements, which had heightened egalitarianism and brought about cultural and intellectual advances. The political Islamic ilies. By failing to protect women from violence such as domestic movement started to gather real power and to spread in the 1970s. abuse, rape, marital rape, and honor killing, the state fails to provide During the 1980s it was supported and nurtured by Western govern- the rights available to a full citizen. In fact, by ignoring issues of gen- ments, which found it useful in Cold War conflicts and in opposing pro- der-based violence and granting lenient punishments to the perpetra- gressive movements in the region. Key features of political Islam tors of violence against women, the state actually reinforces women's included opposition to women's freedom and civil liberties, and to exclusion from the rights of citizens. their freedom of expression in the cultural and personal domains. It Family laws based on Sharia frequently require women to obtain a supports the enforcement of brutal laws and traditions, including male relative's permission to undertake activities that should be theirs beheading and genocide. In Iran, the Sudan, Pakistan, and by right. This increases the dependency women have on their male Afghanistan under the Taliban, Islamic regimes transformed societies family members in economic, social, and legal matters. For example, in general and women's homes in particular into prisons. For women in many Arab countries adult women must obtain the permission of confinement, exclusion from many fields of work and education, and their fathers, brothers, or husbands in order to attain a passport, trav- brutal treatment became the law of the land. In addition, the misogy- el outside of their country, start a business, receive a bank loan, open nist rhetoric of political Islam in the social sphere implicitly sane- a bank account, or get married. ti ned male violence towards women. WHAT Is TO BE DONE? SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS Given Islam's intrinsic animosity to equality between the sexes, to At present, women throughout the region are second-class citizens, women's rights, and toward women's roles in society, how can the con- being excluded from the rights, privileges, and security that all citi- dition of women in Islamic societies be improved? The answer must be zens of a country should enjoy. Unjust laws, discriminatory constitu- to eliminate political Islam as a precondition to any improvements in tions, and biased mentalities that do not recognize women as equal the status of women in the Middle East. The social system is based on citizens violate women's rights. A national, that is, a citizen, is Islamic misogyny and backwardness, and Middle Eastern women will defined as someone who is a native or naturalized member of a state. have no cause to regret its passing. A national is entitled to the rights and privileges allotted to a free indi- The twenty-first century must be the century that rids itself of vidual and to protection from the state. However, in no country in the political Islam. I believe that this movement will begin in Iran. In Iran, Middle East or Northern Africa are women granted full citizenship; in women presented the first and the most effective challenge to the every country they are second-class citizens. In many cases, the laws Islamic regime by courageously questioning the right of Islamic and codes of the state work to reinforce gender inequality and exclu- authority to define the conditions of their lives. The most hopeful signs sion from nationality. The state is used to strengthen Islamic and trib- and the most remarkable force for change continue to come directly al/Iamilial control over women, making them even more dependent on from Iranian women, both in Iran and in exile. these institutions. Unlike in the West, where the individual is the basic As ever, the the key to Middle Eastern women's liberation is secular- unit of the state, it is the family that is the basis of Arab states. This ism and the establishment of egalitarian political systems. Secularism means that the state is primarily concerned with the protection of the has been and continues to be a prerequisite for women's liberation in the family rather than the protection of the family's individual members. Middle East. Our objectives must be: Within this framework, the rights of women are expressed solely in their roles as wives and mothers. State discrimination against women • the complete separation of religion from the state; in the family is expressed through, among other things, unjust family • the elimination of all religious and religiously inspired concepts

Em http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 from laws; Why should Islam be eliminated from the operations of the state • definition of religion as the private affair of individuals; instead of modernized and reformed? If someone says that slavery, • removal of references to a person's religion in laws, on identity fascism, or patriarchy can become humane and modernized, I would cards, and in official papers; ask them why they should not be abandoned altogether. In the view of advocates of Islamic reform, if Islam allowed a woman to go to school in a knee-length skirt or to become a judge as long as she does not liThe twenty-first century must speak of her sexuality, then it would be acceptable. This is not the improvement that we deserve. Attempts to modernize or reform Islam be the century that rids itself of will only prolong the age-Old oppression and subordination of women. Rather than modernize Islam, it must be caged, just as humanity political Islam." caged Christianity two centuries ago. Islam must become subordinate to secularism and the secular state. nil • a ban on ascribing any religion to people, whether individually or collectively, in official documents and the media; • elimination of religion from education; and Note • a ban on teaching religious subjects and dogma and on present- 1. Nawal El Saadawi, The Hidden Face 01' Eve (London: Zed ing purely religious interpretations of secular subjects in Publications, 1980), p. 211. schools. Celebrate 10 Years with Ingersoll: In 2003 Ingersoll's Birthplace Museum marks its 10th anniversary as America's only freethought museum. In New York's Finger Lakes, it is rich with freethought and reform history. ~~~

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Acknowledging RECOGNITION IS OVERDUE Humanist Women Vern L. Bullough

Neither, however, held official positions in humanist organizations. It is the life that a secular humanist woman leads that identifies her as a humanist more effectively than the offices she might have held. But my first wife, Bonnie, the subject of this article, was not unrecognized. stheresomething that distinguishes a woman who is a human- She was a Humanist Laureate in the International Academy of ist from other women? I think that there is, but humanist Humanism and proudly identified herself as a humanist in the various women are like women everywhere in that they have had to biographical collections in which she appeared. struggleI to be heard and seen. Until recently, it has been easy to iguore their importance in the humanist movement. All the signers of AN ACTIVIST FROM THE START Humanist Manifesto I were men. Men also dominated humanist orga- Bonnie was a humanist before I was, although we both began to think nizations, although the number of women in positions of leadership and of ourselves as humanists in high school. She was far ahead of me in power has gradually increased. They include Vashti McCullum, Bette challenging traditional religious beliefs, but was reluctant to push me Chambers, and Suzanne Paul, all former presidents of the American in challenging mine. She was supportive when I did and also support- Humanist Association. Maxine Negri kept the Humanist Society of ive when I hesitated. From the first, however, we were committed to Friends (now the Humanist Society) alive. Jan Loeb Eisler is on the social justice, influenced by our personal knowledge of discrimination board of the Council for Secular Humanism and also served on the exec- against the Japanese, Mexicans, and African Americans in our native utive committee of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, as did Utah. In high school we helped form Progressive Youth of Salt Lake Nettie Klein of the Netherlands and Robbi Robson and Jane Wynne City, which agitated for minority rights, and saw this morph briefly Wilson of England. Indumati Parikh, a leader of humanism in India, is into a statewide youth council. I was usually the more visible leader president of the Center for Social Change in Bombay (society was even more sexist then), but it was Bonnie who did much The list of women holding leadership positions in humanist orga- of the scut work. We both began to attend the local Unitarian Church, nizations is longer, and their numbers will continue to grow. But even where Ed Wilson, then executive secretary of the American Humanist in the past when humanist women were less visible in official posi- Association and editor of The Humanist, was a minister. Slowly we tions, they were active in promoting humanism. I would like to illus- began to think of ourselves as humanists. Our civic activism was more trate this point with the example of my late wife, Bonnie Bullough, who or less put on hold while I served in the Army and Bonnie finished introduced me to humanism. nursing school, but as soon as we could, we resumed our activism First, some generalizations. Women, whether or not they are together-this time as full-fledged humanists-continuing our efforts humanists, have things in common with each other that give them dif- to better the rights of minority racial groups in Salt Lake City ferent life experience than men. All women were once daughters, and When we moved to Chicago, Bonnie formed a medical committee to most become wives and mothers, though a minority remain single, are fight discrimination, which I soon joined, and which eventually led to childless, or are lesbians. The thing that distinguishes humanist a national organization. We picketed, campaigned, and wrote pam- women from most other women has been their dedication to making phlets. While we had for a time a nominal affiliation with the First the world a better place to live. Humanist women, starting with Betty Unitarian Church in Chicago, we soon became involved in the Free Friedan, have been a dominant force in the post- World War II feminist Religious Fellowship, a humanist church that the African-American movement. Before the humanist organizations were established, Lewis McGee had organized and which received some support from women freethinkers were active in the struggle for abolition of slavery, the American Unitarian Association. Although the fellowship was the emancipation of women, the dissemination of information about interracial, Caucasians were in a minority-perhaps because it met at birth control, enactment of laws to protect children, and in all the early Lincoln Center, a Unitarian community center located in the heart of movements for civil rights and civil liberties in the United States. the Black ghetto. It was a baptism by fire for both of us, since few cities Disproportionately, humanist women have been the writers, the were as racially charged as Chicago was at that time. Bonnie spent authors, the founders of women's organizations, and political activists much of her day in the worst slums in the city working for the Chicago of all sorts. Yet they have been able to somehow balance families, Public Health Department. She could speak firsthand of the ills of careers, and public service better than most other women. I know from poverty and the handicap of being racially different from her clients. personal experience, because I was married to one for nearly fifty In our last year in Chicago, Bonnie went on maternity leave in her years, and I have been married to another for almost five years. eighth month of pregnancy and returned to work about two months later. In the middle of that year we moved to Ohio and again became VeT1~Bullough is a visiting professor in the Department of Nursinq active in opposing discrimination in both housing and medical care. at the University of Southern California and an FI senior editor: Bonnie completed her requirements for a bachelor's degree and joined

ED http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 the faculty of Youngstown University, teaching a required health Nursing. Unfortunately, while we were in Egypt our eldest son was course that included a section on human sexuality. We continued our murdered, and this crisis more than anything else tested our commit- community activism, with some meetings taking place in our own ment to humanism. We were forced to reexamine our beliefs, and, home since this allowed both of us to attend. Other times we took turns although we remained convinced we were humanists, it was a difficult going to meetings and events, since we could not afford baby-sitters. time for both of us and one from which we never quite recovered. Bonnie raised money to publish a pamphlet that I had authored about On her return to the United States, Bonnie established the second racial discrimination in Youngstown. The local newspaper also pub- nurse practitioner program in the United States and became a nation- lished it as a five-part series. The publicity resulted in the formation al figure in the movement. She was also appointed chair of the State of a coalition of groups to work on discrimination in housing and in Board of Nursing and established a scholarship to support nurses of medical care. Interestingly, it was I who received the plaque for my racial minority backgrounds. Besides these activities, she continued services to the community, even though Bonnie was as active. her volunteer work in the Fair Housing Council and other community By now we had two sons, and we decided to add to our family by organizations. We also adopted another child. adopting a girl through the Pearl Buck Foundation, since we were wor- One of Bonnie's goals was to reform nursing education and the ried about overpopulation and we knew there were many abandoned practice of nursing, and to do this she felt it was important to become children (many of them fathered by American GIs in Japan and a dean. She accepted a job as Dean of Nursing at the State University Korea). This proved to be no easy task because of the refusal of a local of New York at Buffalo (I went as accompanying spouse although I adoption agency to process our application (a requirement of the soon also became a dean). Bonnie threw herself into changing nursing Foundation). The reason was never clear to us, but we believe it was practices across the country beginning with New York. Again she was because we lived in a racially mixed neighborhood and we lacked the successful, and in the process became a national figure in nursing. proper religious credentials. The result was another series of agita- She also became active in the campaign for abortion rights (which she tions to change adoption policy, led by Bonnie. We were successful, but had helped initiate in Los Angeles before Roe v. Wade), volunteered at in the compromise we agreed to adopt an as-yet unborn child of Planned Parenthood, and campaigned for more effective sex educa- Korean background, who turned out to be a boy. tion. She worked to bring more minority students into nursing and was Shortly after, we moved to Los Angeles, where Bonnie helped estab- successful in working with several Native American tribal councils to lish the first Fair Housing Council in the nation. She also went back to bring this about. school to get her Ph.D. Still she continued her activism, doing research on Bonnie's activities went beyond committees and organizations or segregated housing, public health policy in the ghetto, contraceptive use even picket lines. She also wrote extensively on poverty, race, and among minority women-all the time agitating for change in the way health care; the subordination of women; contraception and abortion; members of minority races were treated. She fought discrimination in sexual minorities; discrimination in medicine; alienation; and human- nursing, not only against racial minorities. She sponsored the first con- ism. All told she authored or coauthored some thirty books and hun- ference in UCLA's history on the health and sexual needs of sexual dreds of articles, and traveled and spoke in most of the states of the minorities, including gays, lesbians, and transgendered individuals. She United States, as well as in many countries. She also raised four chil- also became active in advocating for the needs of the physically disabled, dren to be independent and freethinking adults. helping to found an American CivilLiberties Union committee on medical The list of Bonnie's accomplishments could go on. My point is that rights and organizing a conference on the rights of physically disabled Bonnie spent much of her life trying to better the lot of her fellow and mentally compromised persons. We also adopted a mixed-race girL human beings. So have most women humanists I know: We need to We took off a year to go to Egypt as Fulbright faculty. There Bonnie publicize their achievements, since, just as happened to Bonnie, hus- organized nurses to conduct an educational campaign on female cir- bands often get credit for what their wives initiated or accomplished. cumcision. The group continued the work after she left, and led the It still is a male-dominated world, but humanist women are bringing fight against female circumcision at the International Congresses of about change and finally being recognized in their own right. Ill!

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The Real Danger BEWARE OF CONSERVATIVE ECUMENISM Behind the Christian Right Wendy Kaminer

their routine equation of religion with virtue after the faith-based ini- tiative of September 11. Some quickly began distinguishing between bad religions and good. In the United States, Christianity is naturally considered as one of ow do you measure the influence of evangelicals on the "good" religions-if not the very best-so in general the American public life? Ask a culturally conservative Christian public doesn't seem to regard the religiosity of the Bush administra- if America is a Christian country and you're apt to tion and the church-state partnerships it favors as even remotely theo- hear a series of complaints about sexual permissiveness, sexually cratic. I suspect many people associate theocracies with the official explicit media, gambling, gay rights, abortion, divorce, and other adoption of religions they don't like. Similarly, the deadly fanaticism of alleged ills of our godless, sinful culture. From this perspective, the Islamic fundamentalism doesn't seem to have aroused public anxiety assertion that we are a Christian country is a form of wishful thinking. Ask a secularist if America is a Christian country, or an increasingly religious one, and you'll hear a different series of complaints, about government-funded sectarianism, references to God in official docu- ments and proclamations, and the Supreme Court's increasing hostil- ity toward separation of church and state. From this perspective, it's "While the Christian Right has obtained wishful thinking to regard America as excessively secular. These conflicting responses don't simply reflect conflicting per- significant government sponsorship for its spectives and agendas. There is no short answer to questions about the power of the religious Right, from any perspective. Its influence on sermonizing, Americans don't generally policy and law can be quantified with relative ease: at least we can cat- practice what it preaches," alogue the allocation of public funds to sectarian groups, the rise of creationism in public schools, and other markers of conservative Protestantism in government. But the religious Right's influence on American culture is harder to assess, particularly in light of our gen- eral cultural complexity. Consumerism and the mass media may unite us, but American culture still reflects contradictory strains of about fundamentalism in general; instead, the public seems more like- Puritanism and libertarianism, conformity and individualism, freedom ly to worry about Islam in particular and people from Islamic coun- and authoritarianism, rationalism and superstition, religiosity and tries. A closely divided Supreme Court is increasingly inclined to allow secularism. While we can identify dominant social trends, they are state sponsorship of sectarian activities, as its 2002 decision uphold- never singular. That's what makes this country interesting. It's cultur- ing the channeling of tax dollars to religious schools showed. There's ally diverse and conflicted; you can find some truth in many opposing no question that secularists are right when they complain the consti- complaints from secularists and evangelicals. tutional wall between church and state is crumbling. Let's start with the secular lament: there's no question that the In the realm of law and policy, the Christian Right enjoys clearly country has been in the midst of a religious revival for some fifteen increased power. It's not exercised through previously prominent years. The culture of disbelief that Stephen Carter famously attacked interest groups like the Christian Coalition or the Moral Majority. in his best-selJing book of the early 1990s was actually a small, rela- Instead the perspectives and concerns of right-wing Christians have tively insignificant subculture; indeed, if secularists were dominant, if been incorporated into the Republican Party leadership. So while its the premise of his book had been true, it would never have been a best- organizations appear to be in decline, the Christian Right has more seller. By the 2000 presidential election, both Democrats and political power than ever. You don't need lobbying groups to petition Republicans were advertising their godliness, as AI Gore along with the government when your cohort runs the government. Moreover, Pat George Bush stressed his personal relationship with Jesus. Right and Robertson and Jerry Falwell were divisive, nasty, nutty figures who Left, conventional wisdom proclaimed religious belief essential to often embarrassed conservatives with their unapologetic extremism; virtue. It was, by the way, interesting to hear "virtuecrats" qualify George W carefully promotes an image of religious tolerance, Under his leadership, right-wing Christianity seems more likely to be associ- WendyKaminer is a lawyer and social critic. Her latest book is Free ated with compassionate conservativism than mean fundamentalism. for ALL: Defending Liberty in America Today. So Christian conservatives now help shape a broad range of gov-

Em http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 ernment policies, especially on the domestic front, in the areas of sci- acterize popular culture as a product of Christian conservativism. For ence, social policy, and social services. The president repeatedly all the money spent on abstinence-only sex ed, for example, some 20 refers to the power of faith to cure social ills, and examples of sectar- percent of teens have had sexual intercourse before their fifteenth ian policymaking and grantmaking abound. The Bush administration birthdays, according to a recent report.' As the Christian Right has was not deterred when its legislative proposals for funding sectarian discovered, it's easier to obtain political power, even in a pluralistic social services were initially rejected by Congress (because of opposi- country, than it is to eradicate sin. tion to provisions exempting publicly funded religious organizations So when you consider American culture-the entertainment cul- from federal anti-discrimination law). What the administration could ture in particular-the complaints of conservative Christians about not accomplish by legislation it began to accomplish by fiat: federal excessive secularism are not unrealistic. They have reason to feel rules for housing, community service, and substance abuse programs besieged by culture, just as non-Christians are apt to feel besieged by were rewritten to provide federal funding of sectarian religious Christmas. Secular liberals may scoff at their tirades against the sex- ual revolution or sexual explicitness in the media; we may dismiss them as Puritans - but we might also sympathize with the sincere concern of some about their prospects for salvation. Conservative Christians are apt to fear that, once captured by popular culture, their children will go to hell, quite literally. Personally I don't believe in hell, or censorship, or abstinence-only sex ed; I'm simply pointing out that "It was ... interesting to hear 'virtue- calls for censorship and the official adoption of sectarian moral codes crats' qualify their routine equation of shouldn't simply be dismissed as meanness or narrow-mindedness. Conservative Christians who feel threatened by popular culture religion with virtue after the faith-based should not be dismissed as delusional. But complicating the cultural divide is a growing Christian enter- initiative of September 1 1." tainment culture. It's most evident in Christian rock, some of which crosses over-and has merited a parody in the online humor magazine The Onion. "Bassist Unaware Rick Band Christian" was the headline of a May 28, 2003, article. It proclaimed: "Brad Rolen, the new bassist for Pillar of Salt, remains oblivious to the fact that he is in a Christian rock band, sources reported Tuesday. 'Pillar's great,' said Rolen, 22, groups, even if they engage in employment discrimination. We're also who is unaware of his band mates' devotion to Christ ... 'I've only been seeing an increase in government-funded sectarian social engineer- with these guys for three months but I feel like it's the perfect fit for ing, aimed at combating such sins as divorce and premarital sex or me.'" He does go on to complain, however, that he's having trouble find- extramarital sex. In Florida, for example, a state public health agency ing groupies: "Whenever I ask them to come back to the bus with me, has distributed an AIDS education pamphlet consisting largely of they say, 'I can't do that-that's not right.' I'm like, 'Come on, this is Bible verses and references to Jesus. rock and roll.'" It's possible, therefore, to substantiate the secularist complaint Pop Christian literature has crossed over as well; its commercial about the increased influence of the Christian Right on law and policy. appeal has been confirmed by the hugely popular Left Behind But it's also important to acknowledge that the political success of the series-mass-market Christian thrillers that offer a story of the final Christian Right is not unmitigated by failure. In June 2003, the days. You can find pop Christianity in best-selling self-help books, Supreme Court struck down laws against same-sex sexual relations, especially those that preach the gospel of success. (Self-help books observing that gay people "are entitled to respect for their private have long combined secular strivings for success and self-improve- lives." (In a dissent that will resonate with the Christian Right, Justice ment with religious faith, in various forms.) You can read Christian Scalia complained that the Court "has largely signed on to the so- computing, car, and travel magazines. You can laugh at or with called homosexual agenda.") In previous years, the Court has struck Christian parodies of Christian culture. Stephen Bates reviewed this down laws prohibiting indecency on the Internet, as well as a ban on phenomenon in an excellent December 2002 article in The Weekly virtual child porn and the practice of officially sanctioned student Standard.? He characterizes the Christian retail trade as a "$4 billion prayers at high school football games. These rulings represent signif- dollar a year business with bestsellers and Grammys and trademark icant political defeats for the religious Right. So does its repeated fail- lawyers." ure to pass a constitutional amendment allowing official prayer in This industry seems to have begun, Bates suggests, as a kind of public schools; so do decades of state and federal civil rights laws pro- Christian separatism. Disgusted with secular pop culture, the hibiting sex discrimination in higher education and the workplace. Christian Right created its own. But its success has obscured where While the Christian Right has enjoyed a mixed record of success in Christian culture ends and mainstream secular culture begins, espe- the sphere of law and policy, in the cultural sphere, it has suffered cially if you're in the aisles of Wal-Mart. Is the marketplace changing some prominent failures. Only a pathologically paranoid secularist Christianity or is Christianity changing the marketplace? God knows. would imagine that the Christian Right dominates American culture. Bates notes that the Jesus market includes both separatists and inte- While Christians are still in the majority, their dominance is chal- grationists-performers and merchandisers who confine themselves lenged by the growth of other world religions, not to mention splits to Christian audiences with explicitly Scripture-laden messages, and within their own ranks-both political and theological-and not to those who peddle a softer version of Christianity, palatable in the mention the New Age movement, which the Vatican recently felt the mainstream. Think of the difference between Pat Robertson and need to critique. And while the Christian Right has obtained signifi- George W Bush. The president is the Christian Right's most success- cant government sponsorship for its sermonizing, Americans don't ful crossover pop star. generally practice what it preaches. Wal-Mart may be the Christian Right's most powerful marketer. Whether you focus on the divorce rate, the relative success of the With 100 million customers per week and highly ideological retailing gay rights movement and feminism, sexual activity among young teens policies, Wal-Mart exerts a powerful influence on pop culture. It is (as well as older ones), the growth of the gambling industry, the per- notorious for selling only "clean" or cleaned-up versions of pop music, sistence of the porn industry, prostitution, recreational drug use, sex books, and films; and, according to the New YOTk Times, Wal-Mart and violence on prime-time television, or the ubiquity of half-naked and other discount chains now account for "more than 50 percent of women on city streets every summer, you'd be hard pressed to char- the sales of a best-selling album, more than 40 percent for a best-sell-

free inquiry http://www. seeul arh umani sm .org I ing book, and more than 60 percent for a best-selling DVD."3The Left me are the compromises that right-wing Protestants are willing to Behind series owes its phenomenal success partly to Wal-Mart's mar- make in order to acquire and maintain power. What worries me is the keting. president's crossover appeal. It is, in part a tribute to the individual- The effect of national chain stores and media conglomeration on istic, therapeutic religiosity that unites born again Christians with cultural and political diversity has long been a concern for writers, nonsectarian Twelve Step groups. George Bush made friends with artists, and civil libertarians. Corporate media tends to be cautious and Jesus while recovering from alcoholism, as innumerable other centrist (when not downright conservative), and as the culture moves Americans made friends with other higher powers in recovery. to the right the media moves with it, exacerbating our rightward trend. Whether or not they are Christian, graduates of Twelve Step groups This is all good news for conservative Christians, since the right wing may recognize a fellow traveler in Bush. in this country leans toward sectarianism, or at least against secular- ism. Still, we should never underestimate the power of sin and hypocrisy, or the allure of social freedom-the right to define vice and virtue for yourself and choose between them. When an avowed abso- lutist like Bill Bennett disagrees with fellow virtuecrats about the "Many people associate theocracies morality of gambling, even he has to admit that notions of virtue and vice may be relative. If we can all agree that murder is wrong, we will with the official adoption of still disagree about the morality of abortion, same-sex marriage, or pre-marital sex, among other issues. It's hard to imagine many religions they don't like." Americans ever consistently practicing what the Christian Right preaches. Besides, the religious impulse itself can be difficult to chan- nel. It can send people to yoga class or channeling sessions as often as it sends them to church. It creates saints out of pop stars, as pop cul- ture sanctifies celebrities. At its most hysterical and extreme, celebri- ty worship turns Elvis into a Jesus figure and Graceland into a shrine. The president's cross-denominational appeal also testifies to Even in its more moderate form, the cultural obsession with celebri- alliances formed during the 1990s between conservative Protestants, ties can inspire quasi-spiritual quests-positing fame and fortune as Catholics, and Jews. (Someday socially conservative but assimilated a holy grail. You can see the curious mix of materialism, the desire for Muslims may join with them.) Secularism was their common enemy; fame, and religiosity on American Idol, where the contestants thank conservative Christians and Jews were also drawn together by common God for getting them on television; you'd think he had nothing better concern about Israel. This new conservative ecumenism was exempli- to do. fied by the selection of Joe Lieberman as a Democratic vice presidential I suppose secularists might consider our amen culture a victory for candidate in 2000. Lieberman ran on a platform of personal piety, hav- religious conservatives, but I'm not sure most religious conservatives ingwon the vice presidential slot because of, not in spite of, his religious would agree. This is religion infected with secularism. This is religion beliefs. Secularized Christians who rarely attend church are electable that equates doing good with doing well and doesn't quite focus on nationally; but not Jews who never go to shul. Orthodox people of dif- saving souls. This is religion that can justify self-centeredness, exhi- ferent faiths are apt to feel more threatened by the secular state than by bitionism, and virtually any form of worldly ambition. If it sanctifies church-state partnerships. such circuses as American Idol, it poses no threat to other less So while we need to defend religious freedom and separation of "wholesome" reality television shows like The Bachelor or Married church and state vigorously; we ought not become fixated on the dan- by America which give viewers the thrill of watching half-clothed real gers posed by evangelical Christians. Worry less about the evangelical people engaging in sexual foreplay on TY, just like actors in prime influence on public life and more about the power of conservative ecu- time. The kind of religion that flourishes in the marketplace is amor- menism and the political threat it poses. Don't exacerbate that threat phous, adaptable, ceremonial; it's banal, undemanding "In God We by picking fights over trivial ceremonial pieties strongly supported by Trust" religiosity; which, in some ways, undermines religion more large nonsectarian majorities. I imagine that religious conservatives effectively than secularism. thank God for the lawsuit over the words under God in the Pledge of I doubt that a right-wing Christian moral code will ever dominate Allegiance. If it doesn't result in a Supreme Court ruling affirming the American popular culture. Women are not going to retreat from the constitutionality of official references to God, it may well result in a workplace into the kitchen anymore than they are going to cover their constitutional amendment that erodes prohibitions on establishing hair and hide their bodies in public. Gay people are not going back into religion. The religious Right is probably salivating at the prospect; the closet. People are not going to stop gambling or enjoying sexually consider the usefulness of an "under God" Amendment as an organiz- explicit media. Teenagers are not going to stop having sex. Married ing tool. Religious conservatives have cbosen power; secularists ought couples are not going to stop committing adultery. And, even if abor- not consign themselves to purity. nIl tions become generally illegal once again, women will not stop having them. No one will be stoned for any of these offenses. This essay is based an a paper delivered at the Center far Inouiru-Metro I suspect that, in the end, even Christian merchandising will have New Ya1·kinMay, 2003. a greater effect on politics than pop culture. In other words, it is like- ly to affect how people vote more than how they live. This is not exact- ly good news. The primary threat facing secularists and liberals is not the rise of Notes a traditional theocracy that turns a conservative Christian moral code 1. Tamar Lewin, "1 in 5 Teenagers Has Sex Before 15, Study into law. It's not the reversal of the Sexual Revolution or the end of Finds," New York Times, May 20, 2003. social permissiveness. It's not even the allocation of government funds 2. Stephen Bates, "The Jesus Market," Weekly Standard, to sectarian social programs, although I'm not dismissing the dangers December 16, 2002. (Also available on the Standard Web site.) and indignities these pose to thousands of people. 3. David Kirkpatrick, "Shaping Cultural Tastes at Big Retail Chains," New York Times, May 18, 2003. The most serious threat we face is not conservative Christianity but conservative ecumenism. What worries me more than the ideolog- ical purists on the religious Right are the pragmatists. What worries

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore must remove a large stone Can State Funds Decalogue monument in the state Judicial Building. Moore will appeal.

TThe same circuit ruled that Richmond Support Divinity County, Georgia's court could use a Commandments graphic in its seal, not- ing that the seal showed two tablets Studies? with Roman numerals but no text. ~A U.S. District Court judge ruled that LaCrosse, Wisconsin, violated the Con- Tom Flynn stitution both by having a Ten Com- mandments monument in a city park and by selling the sliver of parkland hurch-State Update tracks con- istry. A ruling in Davey's favor could containing the monument to the Fra- tinuing developments in impor- void language in several state constitu- ternal Order of Eagles. C tant federal, state, and local tions, considered the last major obsta- church-state issues. Each item is pre- cle to school vouchers. TThe U.S. Third Circuit Court of ceded by an up arrow (~) or a down Appeals upheld a Decalogue plaque on arrow (T), based on the story's impli- TEight states, including populous the Chester County, Pennsylvania, cour- cations for separation of church and California, illinois, and New York, failed thouse. This plaque contains the full state and the rights of the nonreligious. to meet an April 15 deadline to certify text of the Commandments. that all their public schools comply with TThe U.S. Supreme Court announced sweeping prayer-friendly federal guide- Around the Country ... that it will hear the case of a divinity lines. A 2002 Education Department pol- ~Lexington, Virginia: The Fourth U.S. student denied public scholarship funds icy threatens loss of federal funds for Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the by the State of Washington. Citing public schools that fail to comply with ultraconservative Virginia Military church-state provisions in its state con- Bush administration readings of church- Institute, a public university, cannot stitution, Washington revoked a tax- state law. require cadets to pray before meals. funded scholarship to Joshua Davey because he was studying for the min- Decalogue Divergence. Inconsistent TWinneconne, Wisconsin: Here's a Ten Commandments verdicts rained new way to sneak God into graduations. down around the country: Tom Flynn is editor of FREEINQUiRY Selected as a graduation speaker, senior and fanner coordinator of the First ~The Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Rachel Honer said she'd rather sing Amendment TaskForce. Appeals ruled unanimously that a Christian song. The school asked her to alter religious lyrics, and she sued. The compromise settlement: Honer sang the song unexpurgated, imposing her Christian views on a captive audience- but was listed in the program not as a speaker but as a performer. "[A] perfor- mance ... isn't a speech," Honer's law- yer explained. Sure, explain that to the agnostic kid.

~ Cheyenne, Wyoming: The controver- sial Religious Land Use and Institu- tionalized Persons Act (RLUlPA)seeks to exempt churches from local zoning laws. That didn't stop a local jury from uphold- ing the city of Cheyenne's decision not to approve a new daycare center at Grace United Methodist Church, which is locat- ed in a quiet residential area. OIl

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org lEI through its arcane assertions of exclu- sive authority. Islam: Cage It or The encyclical lamented "ecumenical initiatives which, albeit well-intentioned, indulge in Eucharistic practices contrary to the discipline by which the Church Unravel It? expresses her faith." It expressed concern that, under the pressure of this misplaced ecumenism, the Eucharist was being Bill Cooke reduced to "a fraternal banquet." In the spirit of haughty exclusivism that has become a feature of this pontif- mong the highlights of the Council Historical Muhammad (2000), What icate, the encyclical decreed that the for Secular Humanism's "One the Koran Really Says (2002), and Catholic faithful, "while respecting the religious convictions of these separated A Nation Without God" conference Leaving Islam (2003) lay the founda- in Washington, D.C.,was the plenary ses- tions for an era of objective Qur'anic brethren [i.e., Protestants], must refrain sion on the question, "Will Islam Come criticism that is long overdue. Warraq from receiving the communion distrib- into the Twenty-first Century?" Each received the Distinguished Secular uted in their celebrations, so as not to speaker had extensive experience in the Humanist Award for his contribution to condone an ambiguity about the nature Muslim world, either teaching there (as working toward an Islam that, one of the Eucharist and, consequently, to does Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of hopes, will no longer need to be either fail in their duty to bear clear witness to physics at Quaid-e-Azam University in caged or unraveled. the truth" (Chapter 3, section 30). Pakistan) or having fled persecution (as This encyclical continues the thrust of have Ibn Warraq, Fatemolla, Irfan NEVER FORGET THAT an earlier encycliCal-Dominus Iesus, Khawaja, and Azam Kamguian). WE'RE RIGHT issued in 2000-which asserted that ':Just as there is one Christ, so there exists a The speakers were divided. Some One thing the Vatican can't be faulted single body of Christ: 'a single Catholic thought Islam must be caged, while oth- for is its management of the media. Its and apostolic Church." Dominus Iesus ers thought it could be unraveled. The recent encyclical, On the Eucharist reminded Catholics that they are "cagers" saw little chance of Islam open- and Its Relationship to the ChUTCh, "required to protess" (emphasis in the ing to any sort of secular or democratic came out while the world's media was original) this truth to the unwashed. This reform (see Azam Kamguian's article in focused on the war in Iraq. This meant can be translated as "We're right, you're this issue, based on her conference pre- that few reporters had the time to sort sentation). The unravelers were more of wrong, and don't you forget it!" nIl the view that tensions within Islam might create space in which limited reforms I "t>ON~OAWl" ·ff~I~.•• could take place over time. All spoke crit- Bl>T rr~ A Mvai Y()IJ CAt.J ~T(~L 'JWE:EP ically of the appeasing attitudes exhibit- ~MAL.LER RUG ed by many Western academics and 1l\lNG~ l)~DER / politicians, who continue to peddle the fiction of Islam as exclusively a religion lltER06 '1 of peace while glossing over the copious evidence to the contrary. The panel was unanimous that vigor- \."'t~~_ ous criticism of the foundations of Islam, like the criticism of Christian ori- gins which has taken place within Christendom over the past two hundred years, is essential. This consensus only serves to underscore the value of Ibn Warraq's work over the past few years. His own book, Why I Am Not a Muslim (1995), continues to grow in influence; while his edited works, The Origins 01" the Koran (1998), The Quest 1"01' the

Bill Cooke is international direc- tOT01" the Center 1"01'Inquiru.

lEI http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 direct relation between ideas and social orga- nization-the former influenced the latter. He Auguste Comte suggested that any scientific study has to look at the moral ideas of a period, because at any particular time in history the form of organi- zation of a society is a direct reflection of the Proponent of positivism and evolutionary thought prevailing social code. Saint-Simon claimed that there were three different moral ideas in Western Europe, and each was separated Tim Delaney from the others by a transition-during that period one moral system declines and another replaces it. The process of replacement-tran- sition results from accumulated scientific uguste Comte was born January 19, There are social thinkers who believe that knowledge, which changes the philosophical 1798, in the southern French city of the social world can be studied in the same outlook of the society For Saint-Simon the A Montpellier during the height of chaos manner as the natural sciences. They believe three moral systems were: and instability in France. He lived for fifty- in the existence of natural laws. This approach 1. Supernatural-Polytheistic Morals: nine years. Math teacher and former is generally referred to as "positivism." Social Greece and Rome. Protestant pastor Daniel Encontre was the positivists seek to discover social laws that will 2. Christian Theism: Socratic science, only teacher who impressed him during his enable them to predict social behavior. feudalism, and the Middle Ages. formal education. It was perhaps Encontre Through observation of behavior, certain 3. Positivism: Industrial society who stimulated the intellect of the young social relationships and arrangements should Saint-Simon's three moral systems would Comte and inspired his wide-ranging pursuit become identifiable; these observations could have a direct influence on Comte's "Law of of interests. Comte's knowledge of mathemat- be explained as "facts" and in causal terms, Three Stages." ics would help him in his latter years, when he without the interference of the researchers' attempted to establish the validity of "laws" value judgments. Therefore, positivism claims A NEW DISCIPLINE governing society Comte was an extraordi- to be the most scientific and objective research Comte's first major publication was A nary student, excelling primarily in math and tradition in sociology Prospectus of the Scientific Operations physics. He was able to demonstrate unusual Comte is remembered to this day in sociol- Required for the Reorganization of feats of memory, such as reading a page of text ogy for his championing of positivism. Cornte's Soc-iety.It is here that he describes the plan and immediately reciting it backwards. idea of positivism is based on the premise that for an empirical science of society by intro- Comte is known as the "founder" of soci- everything in society is observable and subject ducing his evolutionary theory of "The Law of ology In the fourth volume of the Courseof to patterns or laws. These laws could help to Three Stages." It involves the notion that the Positive Philosophy, Comte in 1854 pro- explain human behavior. Comte did not mean history of societies can be divided rather posed the word sociology for his new posi- that human behavior would always be subject- neatly into three distinct periods and that tivist science. The word sociology is a hybrid ed to these "laws"; rather, he saw positivism each kind of society is produced and support- term compounded of Latin and Greek parts. as a way of explaining phenomena apart from ed by a different form of thought or philoso- It was Comte's second choice; he had pre- supernatural or speculative causes. Laws of phy. Since the society of his day was experi- ferred to call his new social science "social human behavior could only be based on empir- encing a period of crisis and great disorgani- physics," but discovered that the Belgian ical data. Thus, positivism was based on zation, he set out to discover the reasons for social statistician Adolphe Quetelet had research guided by theory, a premise that this phenomenon. He concluded that "stolen" that term from him. The term social remains the cornerstone of sociology today European societies were in the midst of a dif- physics makes it clear that Comte wanted to Comte believed that positivism would create ficult transition from one stage to the next. model sociology after the "hard sciences." sound theories based on sufficient factual evi- For Comte, evolution or progress was a Comte felt strongly that science must free dence and historical comparisons to predict matter of the growth of the human mind. The itself from the grip of theology and religious future events. The discovery of the basic laws human mind evolved through a series of dogma. Above all, the reorganization of soci- of human behavior would allow for deliberate stages, and so, too, must society, he proposed. ety required intellectual reform. It would courses of action on the part of both individu- The transition is always difficult, filled with involve replacing Catholicism with his posi- als and society. Decision making guided by sci- periods of great disorganization and reorga- tive philosophy. Comte believed that, although ence would, indeed, be positive. nization based on the newly emerging form of many individual sciences such as physics, In the summer of 1817, Auguste Comte thought. Comte argued that an empirical chemistry, and biology had been developing at was introduced to French utopian socialist study of historical processes, particularly of a steady pace, no one had yet synthesized the Claude-Henri Saint-Simon, then the director the progress of the various interrelated sci- basic principles of these sciences into a of the periodical Industri. Comte became ences, reveals a law of three stages that gov- coherent system of ideas. Comte envisioned a Saint-Simon's secretary, or, more accurately, ern human development. He analyzed these system that was built on an intellectual and his protege. The two social thinkers would stages in his major work, the six-volume moral basis and allowed for science to inter- collaborate on a number of works, until Courseof Positive Philosophy (1830-1842). vene on behalf of the betterment of society. Comte broke from the master over a quarrel The three different stages are: involving publication rights and intellectual 1. Theological. This stage relies on Tim Delaney teaches sociology at the issues. Despite this rift, Comte was clearly supernatural or religious explanations to State University of New YOTk at Oswego. influenced by Saint-Simon. explain what people otherwise could not. He is the author of Classical Social Saint-Simon had stated that changes in Intellectual efforts were hampered by the Theory: Investigation and Application social organization take place (and are neces- assumption that all phenomena are produced (Prentice Hall, 2003), which has a chap- sary) because of the development of human by "supernatural beings." The highest point tel' on Auguste Comte. intelligence. According to him there was a of this stage is the idea of a single God replac-

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org III ing the former prolileration of gods. given point in time all three might exist. religion). Comte was a strong proponent of 2. Metaphysical. This stage is a mere Comte envisioned a future world where posi- using science to establish "truths" or "laws" modification of the first stage, and was a time tivism dominated and theological and meta- relevant to the social world. He borrowed of philosophical thought with a heavy reliance physical thinking would be eliminated. Comte from the established "hard" sciences the on the belief that abstract, even mysterious believed that each of the stages was correlat- idea of combining theory and methods to forces controlled behavior. Comte deemed this ed with certain political developments. The establish the validity of sociology. Unfor- as the least important of the three stages as it theological stage is reflected in such notions tunately, his refusal to read the new and was merely a transitional stage. It was neces- as the "divine right of kings." The metaphys- developing literature of science eventually sary because an immediate jump from the the- ical stage involves such concepts as the left him hopelessly out-or-touch with social ological to the positivist stage would be too social contract, the equality of all persons, reality Furthermore, his attempt to estab- much for humans to handle. and popular sovereignty. The positivist stage lish a scientific church alienated him from 3. Positive. In this final stage (which entails a scientific or "sociological" approach the scientific community as well as the began in the 1800s) of societal development, to political organization. established Church. Despite these shortcom- there comes the realization that laws exist. ings, Comte inspired the scientific study of Through the use of reason and observation to COMTE'S LEGACY society-sociology. Oil study the social world, human behavior can Auguste Comte made a number of lasting be explained rationally. This stage is high- contributions to social thought. Many of his Recommended Reading lighted by a reliance on science, rational ideas are used in contemporary sociology Auguste Cornte, System of Positive Polity, vol. 2 thought, empirical laws, and observation. and will continue to find validity in the future. (New York: Burt Franklin, 1852). Auguste Comte, System otPositiue Politi), vol. 4 The insistent search for absolutes, origins, His idea of a social science grounded by (New York: Burt Franklin, 1854). and purpose is refocused into the study of empirical positivism remains the cornerstone Auguste Cornte, Positive Philosophy, trans. empirical laws. Industrialization and scien- of social sciences today. His "Law of Three Harriet Martineau (London: Bell, 1896). tific moral guidelines of reasoning and facts Stages" reflects an evolutionary framework Lewis Coser, Maste-rs of Sociological Thought, 2nd dominate the scientific positivistic stage. of a progressive society. ed. (New York: Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich, 1977). Acceptance of Comte's positivistic views Comte possessed a great scientific mind John Stuart MUl,Auguste Comte and Positivism entails acknowledging that there is an exist- that ultimately was clouded by his own (London: Trubner & Row, 1873). ing order of the universe that unfolds in pro- bizarre ideas of "cerebral hygiene" (in his Robert Scharff, Comte After Positivism ( ew York: gressive stages. Comte believed that the later years, Comte refused to read the works Cambridge, 1995). cause of every phenomenon was not super- of others because he did not want his mind George Simpson, Auguste Comte: Sire of Sociology (New York: Crowell, 1969). natural but naturaL Although Comte recog- corrupted by their ideas) and his self- Kenneth Thompson, Auguste Cornie: The nized an inevitable succession through these appointment as the "High Priest of the Fouruiaiion. or Sociology (New York: Wiley & three stages, he acknowledged that at any Religion of Humanity" (i.e., positivism as a Sons, 1975).

point of view, and look at the great crisis of modern history, as its character is displayed in the natural course of events, it becomes A General View of every day more evident how hopeless is the task of reconstructing political institutions without the previous remodeling of opinion and of life. To form, then, a satisfactory syn- Positivism thesis of all human conceptions is the most urgent of our social wants, and it is needed equally for the sake of order and of progress. Auguste Cornte During the gradual accomplishment of this great philosophical work, a new moral power will arise spontaneously throughout the The following passage is excerpted from social sympathies are brought into close cor- West, which, as its influence increases, will Auguste Comte and Positivism: The Essential relation with each other. For, in the first lay down a definite basis for the reorganiza- Writings, edited by Gertrude Lenzer (Chicago: place, the science of society, besides being tion of society. It will offer a general system of University of Chicago Press, 1975), pp. more important than any other, supplies the education for the adoption of all civilized 317-18. This uiork was published 1830-1842 only logical and scientific link by which all nations, and by this means will supply in under the title of Course ofPositive Philosophy, our varied observations of phenomena can be every department of public and private life because it was based upon a CfYU1'seof'tee- brought into one consistent whole. Of this sci- fixed principles of judgment and of conduct, tUTeS delivered 1826-1829. But later Cornie ence it is even more true than of any of the Thus the intellectual movement and the gave it the appropriate name of' "system" (of preceding sciences that its real character social crisis will be brought continually into Positive Philosophy). cannot be understood without explaining its close connection with each other. Both will -i-Tim. DeLaney exact relation in all general features with the combine to prepare the advanced portion of art corresponding to it. Now, here we find a humanity for the acceptance of a true spiri- INTRODUCTORY REMARKS coincidence that is assuredly not fortuitous. tual power, a power more coherent, as well as ositivism consists essentially of a philos- At the very time when the theory of society is more progressive, than the noble but prema- Pophy and a polity. These can never be dis- being laid down, an immense sphere is ture attempt of medieval Catholicism. The severed-the former being the basis, and the opened [01' the application of that theory; the primary object, then, of positivism is twofold: latter the end, of one comprehensive system, direction, namely, of the social regeneration to generalize our scientific conceptions, and in which our intellectual faculties and our of Western Europe. For, if we take another to systematize the art of social life. Oil

1m http://www.secularhumanism.org f B October/November 2003 "Atheists certainly An Odd Crop of do not think justice impossible because Agnostics it will likely never be perfect." J1ihyparrot Christian arguments against capital and its way of life. Sometimes one can do punishment? nothing else. The rule is not to save one's skin at any cost. We do not scoff at the hero- ic courage of religious martyrs, however mis- Robert M. Price guided we may think them. But the problem with atheist pacifism is that beating one's sword into a harmless plowshare sacrifices one's only chance to fend off terrible evil. y do professed atheists today, in of bleeding-heart protesters holding a can- There will be no better heaven than this. We great numbers, seem to embrace dlelight vigil for the latest convicted serial had better do what is needful to secure it, for social ethics that mirror in startling killer shows this perversity in the starkest W our children if not for ourselves. And this ways the stance of Christianity, and even an possible light. Such protesters imagine that means being willing both to give and take life. extreme form of radical Christianity? there is no moral difference between the But what of pacifist atheists? Since they Opposition to capital punishment seems to be unfeeling murderer and the state who exe- cannot possibly believe they will be rewarded based on the belief, rooted in theology, that all cutes him, as if killing were the only relevant in some atheist afterlife for their martyrdom, I ipso facto feature defining the situation. That is absurd, lives are sacred and so human must conclude that they have caught the beings never have the right to deprive even the like placing Hitler and his would-be assas- Christian disease of undiscriminating moral foulest criminal of life. On the one hand, there sins (say, Dietrich Bonhoeffer) on the same decadence: they equate the victim and the vic- level. The irony of the situation stems direct- is the belief that all human lives are created in timizer. the image of God and thus possess ineradica- ly from the herd mentality whereby the cring- Sometimes one hears atheists absolutely ble human dignity. On the other hand, there is ing slave seeks refuge in a mass of morally ruling out war because of the supposed ratio- an implicitly anarchistic assumption, reflected equal faceless drones. Let no one be judged nalism on which they like to congratulate in the tale of Jesus and the adulterous woman: on merit! The doctrine of salvation by grace, themselves. War, they remind us, is always a "Let him who is without sin cast the first whereby all are deemed equal in God's Sight, failure of diplomacy. True enough. But some- stone" (John 8:7). Only God has the privileged is, as Feuerbach knew, the refuge of the guilty times, as Neville Chamberlain discovered the position to presume to judge humans, we are coward. If Jeffrey Dahmer can't be held hard way, diplomacy is a form of war. The told here. That is the recipe for anarchism, responsible, then neither can I, for I will aggressors, unlike pacifists, are willing to go and there have been Christian anarchists. never be guilty of anything remotely so bad! to war at any time and are held back only as Atheists base their belief in human rights Objectors to capital punishment are long as they can gain the same ends by on a social compact model. Having no creator, reducing the killer and the state to what appeasement. They are playing the pacifists it is up to us to decide the rights and responsi- Rene Girard calls "mimetic doubles," for the fools they are, to get as far as they can bilities that will maximize social and individual between whom no moral distinction can be before they have to start shooting. If they are freedoms. Certain things will work to safe- drawn. To do this is to upend the rules of the lucky, we may well give up the store before guard a harmonious society, others will not. It social compact-the only game in town. Why they have to rob it. is a great game, and one retains rights as long should atheists join the religious in crusad- This incredible naivete, too, is Christian as one observes commensurate responsibili- ing on behalf of their dogma that all human decadence in disguise. It shows a stance of ties. A murderer forfeits his or her own rights lives are to be protected no matter what? pure and unsupported faith that facts cannot by denying those of others. He or she loses the Now,to war. Christian pacifists believe that penetrate until it is much too late. The liberal right to life and is ejected from the game. Jesus forbade warfare when he urged people atheist, like his or her Christian model, simply As for any mere human having the right to not to respond in kind when slapped or refuses to accept certain harsh realities. As judge, we have over time developed a rational abused. Pacifists think this policy of personal Freud said of the religious believer, the invul- (though admittedly fallible) system that makes nonretaliation also implies the renunciation of nerable liberal is remaking the real world into the administration ofjustice impartial by remov- national defense. The radical Christian will a "wish-world" by projecting his or her own ing it from the control of interested parties. gladly suffer martyrdom for his refusal to shed values upon it. The real world contains Judges need not be without sin, just without his enemy's blood, if it comes to that (and it aggressive people who want to take what you bribe. Atheists certainly do not think justice would very quickly; once a hypothetical nation have and who do not believe, as liberals do, impossible because it willlikely never be perfect. of pacifists were invaded by Nazis). Why does that there are always two sides to every dis- It seems to me that the liberal and radical the Christian pacifist consider this trade a fair pute. Look at the facts, empiricist! Nietzsche opposition to capital punishment is a blatant one? For the same reason Islamic suicide said, "Faith is not wanting to know the truth." example of the moral decadence Nietzsche bombers immolate themselves: all alike Does your politics allow you to know it? As blamed on Christianity. Why? The spectacle believe it will gain them the martyr's crown in Hornbeck said to Drummond in Inherit the heaven. If one harbors no such expectation, Wind when he caught the latter musing that Robert M. Price is protessor of biblical the trade may not seem so reasonable. the deceased Brady had looked too far away criticism at the Center for Inquiry and Of course, many atheists are patriots and for a God near to hand, "Well! We're growing author of Deconstructing Jesus. would gladly give their lives for their country an odd crop of agnostics this year!" UIl

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org m (Editorial cont'd. from p. 6) humanism controlled the country. (In one rence and the balance of power. It main- sense they were correct, for as I men- tains that American military might will vinism? Why has its commitment to tioned above, a generally humanistic police the world and defeat any "rogue humanism, liberal values, and the First viewpoint dominated education, science, states" that may challenge its hegemony. Punendmenteroded? and the media at that time.) They called Unfortunately, this ideological posture for secular humanism to be overthrown has been accompanied by an open hese changes began in the late 1970s and for a revival of popular piety. Surely alliance with conservative and evangeli- T and gathered force in the 1980s. they achieved the latter objective. cal religious forces at home. In the best- Because of my role in the humanist move- Consider that most intellectuals once selling book Mind Siege, Tim LaHaye ment, I was able to observe closely as the thought Protestant fundamentalism to be and David Noebel provide a frightening attacks on secular humanism and natu- beyond the pale and Billy Graham a mar- apocalyptic agenda for evangelicals, ralism intensified. In my view, six factors ginal figure. As time went on, Graham admonishing their millions of followers in were responsible for these inauspicious would become known as a "statesman" martial tones to prepare for battle developments. and act as a confidante to several presi- against the secular humanists.' We had First, there was a sharp rise in beliefs dents of the United States. America's reli- become Public Enemy umber One, in the paranormal, pseudoscience, and gious revival did not benefit only though after the emergence of the armies antiscience in the United States and Protestant fundamentalism: conservative of the jihad we have been temporarily throughout the world. Claims concerning Roman Catholicism made great gains, demoted to Public Enemy Number Two. psychics and astrologers, monsters of the eroding the reforms of Vatican II, and This brings us to the sixth major deep, UFOs, and the like dominated the neoconservative Orthodox Judaism change: the growth of Islamic fundamen- mass media and fascinated the public. mounted an astonishing comeback. By talism. The War on Terrorism and its Claims were everywhere, but there were the year 2000, public life in the United associated "conflict of civilizations," in virtually no criticisms of them. In 1976, I States was largely dominated by a theis- Samuel Huntington's phrase, has put all brought together many of the leading tic outlook. If I had declared the twentieth Americans under a heightened sense of skeptics in the United States and the century the humanist century, respected threat. But even this must be viewed in world and founded the Committee for the conservatives such as Michael Novak, the context of a larger movement: an Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Richard John Neuhaus, and writers for intense Islamic missionary effort, antisci- Paranormal (CSICOP). At CSICOP's Commentaru magazine declared it an entific at its root, that is sweeping the founding conference I posed the question: "anomaly." They said that the twenty-first world. Islam is on the move in Africa, "Should we assume that the scientific century would be a century dominated Asia, and all parts of the world. What may enlightenment will continue, and that not by secular humanism, but by religious be most significant are the fast-growing public support of science will be ongo- and spiritual values. For them, the secu- Islamic minorities in Western Europe- ing?" I answered that question in the neg- lar humanist outlook could not expire too France has five million Muslims, Britain ative. We should not assume that science soon. and Germany two million each. And of will prevail, I warned, for we may be over- The third factor that emerged to chal- course the United States and Canada whelmed by irrational forces that will lenge freethought and the secular move- have growing Muslim minorities. undermine our cherished naturalistic ment was the near-total collapse of No less portentous is the global rise of worldview. At that time, very few people Marxism. For a good part of the nine- militant Christianity. The reality is that questioned scientific culture or the scien- teenth and twentieth centuries, Marxist- there are more missionaries spreading tific outlook as such-there was of course humanist ideals had influenced intellectu- the Christian gospel throughout the world fear of a possible nuclear confrontation, als; with Marxism's eclipse, anticlerical- than at any time in history. It is projected but science itself was not in question. ism and indeed any open criticism of reli- that, by the year 2025, 67 percent of Gradually, and much to the astonishment gion have all but disappeared. Christians will live in Asia, Africa, and of many observers, an antiscientific atti- The fourth major change that occurred Latin America. China, indeed, will have tude began to develop. In response the was the growth of postmodernism. more Christians than all but six nations. skeptical movement organized itself Postmodernism stands in opposition to the This is occurring at a time when Europe across the world; there now exist skepti- Enlightenment, humanism, the advance- is being secularized, with nonreligious cal organizations in some thirty-eight ment of science, a concern for human minorities growing sharply and church countries, from China to Germany, progress, and the emancipation of human- attendance at record lows. But Christian Argentina to Australia. They publish ity from the blindfold of authoritarian tra- missionaries are pouring forth from the some sixty magazines and newsletters ditions. Postmodernism questions all these United States-particularly Pentecostals inspired by CSICOP's flagship journal, basic premises, especially the ideas of and evangelicals, carrying with them a the Skeptical Inquirer. objective science and humanistic values, literal reading of Scripture that they The second change that began to and it has gravely influenced the academy, apply freely to morality and politics. occur was the growth of fundamentalism not only in the United States, but else- What we are confronted with is the and its prominence in Ameriean public where in the world. fact that the third world, which had been life. The Moral Majority grew strong from The fifth factor that is so important is so powerfully influenced by Marxism the late 1970s to the late 1980s, in part by American triumphalism. Global free-mar- twenty or thirty years ago, now confronts targeting secular humanism-not ket corporate capitalism now dominates the clash of two powerful missionary humanism per se, but secular humanism. the world. Pax Americana has many of forces: Islam and Christianity. I defined secular humanism first as "a the characteristics of a new kind of impe- This is the new reality that we in the method of critical inquiry." Religious rialism. The latest turn in American for- humanist and rationalist movement have Right leaders charged that secular eign policy questions ideas like deter- to face. The armies of the faithful are

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 powerful and multiple. We face continued, of the sciences. Here we have much work three decades to religious forces, not only even escalating conflict between their to do. We reject the ancient religious in America, but also in Asia, Africa, and intolerant religious ideologies and our ontological views rooted simply in the Latin America. The United States is naturalism. Bible, the Qur'an, the Book of Mormon, or anomalous in comparison with Europe, I have offered a brief overview of a Buddhist and Hindu literature. We wish which has become increasingly secular- profound reversal in attitudes-from a to explain nature in the light of empirical ized and nonreligious. Hundreds of mil- period thirty years ago when humanism and experimental evidence. That is the lions of people worldwide are secular; and secularism were in ascendancy, at key principle that needs to be enunciated: they do not look to the ancient faiths for least in the United States, to one in which naturalism in contradistinction to super- guidance and believe that anyone can be they are being challenged at every turn, naturalism. We are predominantly nonre- moral without belief in any religion. The with vast sums of money and energy ligious nontheistic empiricists and ratio- challenge today is especially urgent in the being applied to further missionary reli- nalists. We have developed our views of United States, no doubt because of the giosity. This does not deny the positive reality by reference to the findings of the influence its immense power has given it developments associated with the tri- sciences. We are skeptical about claims in the world. Especially disturbing is the umph of democratic ideals, as Fukuyama that are untested. Science provides our fact that the political leadership of the has described. But it is the overall secu- most reliable knowledge of the universe, United States has grown fearful of lar humanist prospect that I am con- even as it leaves room for mystery and expressing any support for agnosticism, cerned with. awe about areas of the universe not yet skepticism, secular humanism, or unbe- probed or explained. lief. Moreover, the current administration rntus we have great tasks ahead of us Our third great battle will be for uses the White House as a bully pulpit to L in future decades. But I ask, What humanistic ethics. We believe that no one spread religious gospel. It is possible in should we concentrate upon? I submit can deduce ethical values solely from the- European democracies for politicians to that there are three main battles. First is ological premises. Those who depend on publicly express nonreligious, even athe- the battle for secularism. I think the first theology for morality often end up in con- istic viewpoints-but alas, this is virtual- great challenge will be to preserve the flict with hatred and intolerance on every ly impossible in today's United States. secular democracies; namely, we need to side. For example, Muslims believe in We have been waging a rear-guard bat- make a stronger case for the separation polygamy, Protestants and Jews in tle in the United States. We need to move of church (or mosque or temple) and monogamy and the right of divorce, while to the front lines to defend secular human- state. The state should be neutral, allow- Roman Catholics (at least officially) do ism-to convince the public that it's possi- ing a plurality of points of view, from reli- not accept divorce. The Catholic Church ble to be a good citizen, contribute to soci- gious belief to nonbelief, to coexist. This opposes capital punishment; Muslim fun- ety, be moral, and yet to be nonreligious. means that we need to defend democracy damentalists and Baptists defend it. Thus We need to defend the Enlightenment- and the open society, human rights, and there is a conflict between humanist whose agenda still has not been fulfilled, the rule of law. Virtually all of the fifty- ethics and the religious-moral ideologies as philosopher Jiirgen Habermas has four Islamic countries are theocracies, that so dominate the world today, just as pointed out. We need to encourage our grounded in Sharia as set forth in the there is conflict among religious ideolo- supporters to speak out courageously. We Hadith and the Qur'an. Unfortunately, gies. But all of them are based upon need to engage in debate and dialogue, recent efforts by the Bush administration ancient faiths, too often irrelevant to con- enunciating and defending secularism, to shatter the wall between church and temporary realities. humanism, and naturalism as meaningful state in the United States portend great Thus, we maintain that a humanist alternatives to the irrationalism that damage for secularism worldwide. They moral revolution offers great promise for increasingly dominates our age and also place the administration in the con- the future of humankind; for it allows threatens to overwhelm it. nil tradictory position of calling for barriers humans to achieve the good life here and between church and state in Iraq that it is now, without the illusion of salvation or doggedly dismantling at home. immortality. We wish to test moral values Notes The second battle will be for natural- by evidence and reason, and we are willing 1. Paul Kurtz, The Humanist ism; we are committed to the application of to modify our ethical values in light of the Alternative: Some Definitions of scientific methods in testing truth claims- consequences. Our approach is planetary, Humanism (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus by the principle of appeal to evidence and as Humanist Manitesto 2000 empha- Books; London: Pemberton, 1973). 2. John D. Rockefeller, The Second reason. Scientific methodology is basic to sized-we hold that every person on the American Revolution: Some Personal our industrial-technological societies; planet has equal dignity and value. Our Observations (New York: Harper and therefore, American power is based not on moral commitment is to be concerned with Row, 1973). 3. Walter Mondale's brother, Lester, theology, but on naturalistic premises. We the rights of every person in the global was a signer of the first Humanist are the defenders of critical thinking and community and to preserve our shared Manifesto (1933). He wrote about his skeptical inquiry as part of the process of habitat. memories of Manifesto I in "The Lingering Humanist Manifesto I," developing tested knowledge. Leaders of Humanistic ethics defends the autono- FREE INQUIRY6, no. 4 (Fal.l1996): 28-29. industrial and technological economies my of the individual, the right of privacy, 4. Mind Sieqe: The Battle for Truth understand this full well. No revival of reli- human freedom, and social justice. It is in the New Millennium (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Co., 2000). It is gious fundamentalism must be permitted concerned with the welfare of humanity noteworthy that LaHaye is also Amer- to erode this dedication. as a whole. ica's number-one selling author of fiction We are also committed to the natural- because of his wildly successful, apoca- lyptic Left Behind novels. istic cosmic outlook-that is, to the scien- n conclusion, I think that secular tific perspective drawn from the frontiers Ihumanism has lost ground in the last

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org m (Letters cont'd. from p. 8) access to nukes. Also, note that these A:ris ated and governed by humans is pertect, nations uiere transtormed into viable mod- the United States included. America is not Simply looking at the targets of the ern democracies only aile?' their defeat. inl'allible 01' supernaturally good but, 01' September 11 attacks suggests that perhaps Assuming Festag doesn't believe in magic, 1 the plasrers that do exist in the Teal uiorid, Enlightenment values 8J'e not necessarily the don't know what to make 01'his lament that this country is currently the best 01' only causes of discontent. The targets chosen were democracies aren't "creative enough to option to keep WMD out otthe hands 01'the symbolic. The terrorists did not fly planes into avoid either appeasement 01' Iorce when anti-Enlightenment. the original copy of the Bill of Rights or the challenged by dictatorship." Perhaps it we Constitution. They flew planes into the World had sung to Hitler something along the Trade Center, which is a symbol of U.S. eco- lines 01'"WeAre the World" (they say music From Sinner to Saint nomic dominance, and the Pentagon, which is calms the savage beast) or it' we had taught the symbol of U.S. military dominance Saddarn. proper yoga technique who knows The news of Spain's Queen Isabella being throughout the world. ot only this, but when what would have happened? considered for sainthood, despite her relent- exactly have people in the Middle East come Joet Hammon argues that the W01'ld less persecution of Jews and Muslims, comes into contact with the Enlightenment values Trade Center symbolized American eco- as no surprise ("Sainthood for Inquisition that the United States is founded upon? During nomic dominance. But those soaring tow- Queen?" Frontlines, FI, Summer 2003). our support for Saddam before the first Gulf ers were widely interpreted as symbolic 01' Criminal behavior and sainthood have never War, or our support of deeply authoritarian trade, commerce, and globalization reach- been at odds within the Catholic Church. and anti-Enlightenment regimes in the area ing out to the world-a result 01'which is A case in point is Thomas More, such as Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, or maybe that traditional Arab cultur-e disinte- England's lord chancellor during the early when we overthrew the government of Iran, or gr-ates as young Ar-abs want MTV, Haagen sixteenth century He not only sent scores of perhaps our partnership with the military dic- Dasz ice cream, and treedom somewhat Protestant "heretics" to the stake but later tatorship of Pakistan, etc., etc., etc.? Again, mor-e I'er-venlly than Weste?'1Zyouthclamor wrote that the smell of their burning flesh perhaps all of this activity was necessary, but I 1'01'skewered camel meat, public torture, gave him great pleasure. Today, however, think it is pretty safe to say that when the peo- and pilgrimages to Mecca. The WTC was a he's officially a "saint," venerated in Catholic metaphor 01' the international interne- ple of the Middle East think of the United circles, treated reverentially in the mass tions world trade that threaten the Arab States, they do not think of the Declaration of or media, and even has a number of schools and world's cultural status quo, Independence or the Bill of Rights; they think colleges named after him. Hammon claims that bin Laden's ter- of cluster bombs. The internal organization That such wretches as Isabella and More rorist activities are just defensive reac- and freedom of a country has very little to do can be admired in the twenty-first century, tions to throw ofY'a perceived yoke of' U.S, with the foreign policy that country maintains, rather than being denounced [01' the miscre- policies vis-a-vis Israel and U.S. troops in and I would suggest it is this disconnect that is ants they were, convinces me H,L. Mencken Riyadh. 1suggest a closer reading of' bin the cause of their "discontent" and "hatred." was right: the really enlightened thinking of Laden's statements. His agenda is to The view that terror attacks are linked to the human race lies far, far off in the future. reestabiisn the Caliphate lOT the glory of' hatred of our ideals has one distinct advan- Peter J. Havershals his particular sect or Sunni Islam, Wah- tage: it completely relieves us of any respon- Goffstown, New Hampshire habiism: America, the greatest 01'all inl'i- sibility to examine our own past actions. It is del nations, is in his way. the equivalent of saying, "They hate us Mason Tromblee's Ctuunoertain-like because we are just too damn good." A com- sensibilities are otteruied by the phrase Out of the Closet forting idea perhaps, but not a terribly fruit- "Kumhapa' camptire singers." A thousand ful one' if we are serious in understanding pardons 1'01'my egregious attempt to use a Thomas Flynn tells unbelievers "to come out and eliminating terrorism throughout the little levity at the expense 01'his regard I'm' of the closet" ("No Passing," FI, Summer world. In fact, if we adopt this view, the only camp, Tromblee pooh-poohs the idea that 2003). In 1987 I found that letters to the edi- option in combating terrorism is force. As the treedom. and individual rights are, by I'm; tor are an easy and effective way to be heard, author suggests, "That is why we had no the most important determinants or a A letter in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Sun- choice but to attack Iraq, and why I submit nation's wealth. But if, as Tromblee implies, Sentinel claimed, "There is more evidence of we have no choice but to continue in this natural resources are more important, the resurrection of Jesus Christ tban of vein." It is up to the thinking people here in resource-poor Japan and Taiwan wouldn't Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo." My terse the United States to decide whether continu- be incomparably uieolthier than resource- response to this absurdity appeared a few ous war will protect our values and whether rich China, veneeueta, and Saudi Arabia. days later, and I was hooked on letter writing. it will make us more or less safe. N01' would natural resources even begin to From the Bible Belt, I respond regnlarly Joel J. Hammon explain the vast wealth ditterential to the intolerance and falsehoods of Bensalem, Pennsylvania between N01'th Korea and South Korea, Christian fundamentalists. During the first Protection 01'individual and property five months of 2003 I sent eighty-two letters Steven Hirsch replies: rights is requisite 1'01'the kind or capital to daily newspapers throughout Alabama formation that is necessary to realize the plus Pensacola, Florida, and Biloxi, Ecknard Festag seems to have missed the potential 01'any nation's g1'eatest natural Mississippi-thirty-one of these letters (38 thesis 01'my article. 1never argued that the resource-s-its people. For prosperity to percent) were published, The rate would be domain 01'anti-Enlightenment is destined OCCU1; 1'01'people to be able to pursue their higher but many of these periodicals have a to remain as such toreuer=-that would be happiness, their property rights must be policy of one letter per month, which I usual- absurd. My point was that, unlike sixty legally protected. Thus, the way in which ly disregard as some letters do slip by. years ago when Hitter; Mussolini, and we govern ourselves does, very much, My point is not to boast about my letter- Hirohito were waging war, we now live in determine our prosperity. writing prowess, but to relate how easy it is to a world where despots can potentially gain I'm not suggesting that any nation ere- have your letters published. Unbelievers have

1m http://www,secularhumanism,org f B October/November 2003 told me they were surprised to find that letters church-state entanglement; Lee v. Weisman critical of religion would be published. An edi- (1992) shmply restricted prauer at gradu- SCIENCE tor once confided to me that he too was an athe- ations; and so on. The u.s. Ninth Circuit's ist and advised, "Keep those letters coming." insistence that "under God" is unconstitu- AND RELIGION The Internet makes letter writing easy. I tional in the Pledge of Allegiance is check the letters section of about a dozen encouraging, though it seems unlikely to Are They Compatible? daily papers on the Internet and then e-mail survive Supreme Court review. (Then edited by my critique. No purchase of newspaper or again, the Ninth Circuit's reasoning PAUL KURTZ postage is necessary. Nevertheless, letters do appears sound; perhaps the High Court appear in print. will surprise us next year on Newdow as it with the assistance of Write a letter to the editor! Youjust might did this term on the Texas sodomy law BARRY KARR arouse a few individuals from their "dogmat- case.) Despite opposition-sometimes, and ic slumbers." You will also be alerting the thunderous denials-from the Right, free- RANJIT SANDHU public that unbelievers are a force to be dom trom reliqion. is no less well estab- taken seriously. lished than any other emerging right that David N. Miles is the focus of activism. Orange Beach, Alabama It is true that treedom trom religion is under unprecedented attack. Some church- state principles that have beenOUTbulwarks To quote Tom Flynn in "No Passing": "We, as fo-r decades may soon fall. To me, that's one unbelievers, must seize every opportunity to more reason not to wait-let's get active now out ourselves. As a group, we need to become and make ourselves visible while we still a more effective minority, willing to plead for possess theseprecious legal supports. ow' privileges, willing to inflict legal and emo- In any case, an emerging min01'ity tional costs when opponents violate our need not have solid judicial SUpp01't rights." I think more of us would be more already in place before it uses activism to enthusiastic to "out" ourselves if we felt we improve its standing in society. Consider had a legal leg to stand on. Does "freedom of the gay movement, which I cited in my religion" as guaranteed by the Constitution for editorial as a model for humanists to fol- religious believers, also mean "freedom from low. Homosexuality had no standing in religion" for those of us who don't believe? It legislation 01' j7ldicial precedent at the surely doesn't feel that way, especially not time the gay movement started. Activism when we are living in "one nation under God." came nTst-only atter gays and lesbians Dowe need to appeal to the Supreme Court for had outed themsetues for years did a cli- an amendment of clarification? We shouldn't mate of opinion mise that could SUpp01't feel like second-class citizens having to "plead gay-f1iendly legislation and court deci- 368 pp • ISBN 1-59102-064-6 • PB $20 Ior our privileges" and fight for our freedoms, sions. F01'gays, activism was a necessary which may need to be reinforced at this junc- precursor to victories in the courts and in ture, legally. I feel this may be some seriously the legislatures. "... science and religion have overlooked groundwork to our becoming a In that sense, the body of law we unbe- been seeking common ground more effective and confident minority and ulti- lievers now enjoy-imperfect as it may through ongoing dialogue .... this mately, a larger minority. be, and threatened as it is-is far stronger volume providers} a dimension to than anything lhe gay movement could the conversation that has seldom Hose Lindsey Bennett lean on at the same point in its develop- been heard ... present[s} impor- Ovilla, Texas ment. I don't believe we need wait ('07' any tant and provocative voices too often drowned out. " Tom Flynn replies: 1n01'ejudicial support; in my opinion, the time to get active is now! -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Rose Bennett questions whether we unbe- Leading scientists and other lievers should seek a Supreme COUTtclari- distinguished contributors discuss fication of OUT1ight to freedom from Teli- the Big Bang and the origin of the gion betore we start to "out" oursetues on I WRITE TO FI I universe, intelligent design and any scale=uihether we lack a "legal leg to stand on." Actually, we have several such Send submissions to creationism vs. evolution, the nature Norm Alien, Jr., Letters Editor, legs. U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence of the "soul," near-death experiences, FHEE INQillRY,P.O.Box 664, Amherst, communication with the dead, why has been consistent since at least 1947 in NY 14226-0664. holding that government must be neutral some people believe in God and For letters intended others do not, the relationship between religion and irreligion, not mere- Ior publication, between religion and ethics, and ly neutral among religions. While some please include name, other stimulating topics. COUTt decisions-and recently, some address, city, and state, administration initiatives-have umored and daytime phone number this principle, Engel v. Vitale (1962) ended (for verification purposes only). public school Bible readings; Abingdon v. Letters should be @ Prometheus Books 300 words or less Schempp and Murray v. Curlett (1963) ended Call toll free (800) 421-0351 and pertain to previous school prayer; Lemon v. Kurtman (1971) [email protected] FHEE INQUIRY articles. established the reumitu) legal definition of

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org m true skeptic may have difficulty dis- SCIENCE AND RELIGION proving intelligent design, arguing pri- marily on the basis of "irreducible com- plexity," a concept many research biolo- The Experts Weigh In gists have already discredited. Dembski then urges scientists to make a greater effort to show the general public they are caring people who take the side of Stuart Jordan humanity. Massimo Pigliucci argues the case Science and Religion-Are They Compatible?, edited by Paul against intelligent design, demonstrating Kurtz, with the assistance of Barry Karr and Ranjit Sandhu why there is no need for a designer to (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2003, ISBN 1·59102·064-6) explain the evolution of complex struc- 350 pp. Paper $20. tures. Eugenie Scott offers four ways to characterize the relationship of science to religion, ranging from the "warfare" model to the "engagement" model in which science and religion interact as equal partners. Naturally, most religious his book presents a critique of arguments for the anthropic principle in scholars in "the science and religion several current religious and New Glynn's book God: The Evidence and movement" prefer the latter. However, TAge claims, beginning with an gives them rough treatment, though one wonders how they will react if mod- introductory section that defines the with engaging humor. ern neurobiology fails to find evidence problem. Editor Paul Kurtz notes that A view favoring religion is presented for free will. The final essay in this sec- there is a profound difference between by Owen Gingerich, professor of astron- tion, by Taner Edis, discusses Islamic science and religion in their different omy at Harvard. He notes with approval arguments that perceived harmony in approaches to truth. While science the argument that it is more likely there the universe leads to belief in God, a requires an open mind, free inquiry, and is a God who designed the universe with stance that, however emotionally ap- a willingness to question assumptions us in mind than that cosmic inflation led pealing it may be, does not satisfy the critically, religions have relied largely to us naturally Considering that the God truth standards of science. on faith in specific revelations and their assumption has no physical evidence to Part 3 considers "Religion and interpretation by established religious back it up, this is a leap of faith indeed. Science in Conflict." Vern Bullough pro- authorities. Skeptical Inquire?" Editor Nevertheless, the religious position is vides an historical perspective, conclud- Kendrick Frazier then explores the presented well, as Gingerich writes ing that most scientists are willing to boundaries between science and reli- clearly and with feeling. live with tolerant religions, but when gion to reveal areas of overlap as well as Quentin Smith examines the religious fundamentalists angrily attack scien- the uniqueness of each. argument that the universe could not tists have no choice but to defend sci- Part 1, "Cosmology and God," ad- have been uncaused, and that therefore ence. Timothy Moy gives a good review dresses some of the claims by religious some cosmic agent was responsible for of the well-known Galileo affair. Sir believers that modern cosmology, par- its emergence. He argues there is no Hermann Bondi argues that, while sci- ticularly "Big Bang" cosmology, offers compelling reason (and, also, no evi- ence unites the world today, religion is evidence for a creator. obel Laureate dence) for this position, as we have never dividing it. Daniel C. Dennett makes the Steven Weinberg points out that there is observed anything to come into existence case for the importance of truth and no need for such a being in order to from "nothing." Astrophysicist Neil why it is not just a matter of each per- explain the emergence of the universe if Tyson ends the section on cosmology by son's opinion, noting how getting it right you understand the laws of modern noting, "if I propose a God beyond that greatly increases the chances for, quantum physics. Astrophysicist Victor horizon (of our current knowledge), ... among other things, human survival. Stenger offers further arguments the day will come when our sphere of Jacob Pandian points out the dangers of against the anthropic coincidence, a knowledge will have grown so large that too much "cooperation" between sci- variant of a dubious old argument (with a nod to Laplace) I will have no ence and religion, lest the latter define known as intelligent design, which need of that hypothesis." the agenda for the former. Barry claims that certain features of the uni- Part 2 addresses "Intelligent Design: Palevitz relates his experiences teach- verse require an intelligent designer. Creationism versus Science." Kendrick ing students to recognize the difference David Shotwell takes on Patrick Glynn's Frazier attacks the dogmatic views of between science and religion, urging creationists directly. He notes how sub- them to put the burden of proof on reli- Stuart Jordan is a senior staff scien- tle arguments for intelligent design gion, not science, and citing creationism tist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight have given aid and comfort to funda- as an example. Arthur C. Clarke demon- Center. He is also president of the mentalists, especially in the United strates again his talent for evoking won- Washington Area Secular Humanists. States. William Dembski argues that a der at the majesty of the natural world

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 in a stirring excerpt from one of his ious Belief," Paul Kurtz reviews reasons While each author adopts a different many books. why people believe, arguing that since approach, and all but one (Martin Part 4, "Science and Ethics," reviews the question involves how human beings Gardner, a well-known skeptic!) remain the relationship of science to ethics, function, the subject is well suited to sci- skeptical of "supernatural" claims, each beginning with Stephen Jay Gould's entific investigation. Anthony Layng acknowledges there are compelling rea- arguments for "non-overlapping magis- reviews the role of cultures in inculcating sons why so many people are religious. teria," under which science sticks to and reinforcing those beliefs experience Secular humanist leader Paul Kurtz describing nature while religion takes showed had group survival value. Morton offers a summary that incorporates care of ethics. This idea has not pros- Hunt seeks the biological basis for belief, many points made by the others. Kurtz pered among most scientists; Richard concluding that our phylogenetic ally affirms there is a proper domain for reli- Dawkins and Richard Feynman both determined intellectual, emotional, and gion in a secular world, but that this deconstruct it, though Feynman's argu- social propensities, reinforced by cul- domain is solely expressive and emotive. ments are less dismissive of Gould's ture, provide a good explanation. Steven This reviewer would agree with one position. Pinker notes that religious beliefs come caveat, expressed by Steven Weinberg in In Part 5, Paul Kurtz, Richard from somewhere, perhaps from dreams, his earlier essay: "One of the greatest Wiseman, Ciaran O'Keeffe, Antony Flew, so we should seek their natural origin achievements of science has been, if not Jerome Elbert, Irwin Tessman, Jack accordingly. David Noelle notes that the to make it possible for intelligent people Tessman, and Joe Nickell describe "The kind of temporal lobe malfunction to be religious, then at least to make it Scientific Investigation of Paranatural involved in epilepsy may convince some possible for them not to be religious. We Claims." Claims investigated include life people they are tuning in to something should not retreat from this accom- after death, after-death communication transcendental when the process is plishment" (emphasis mine). (spiritualism), near-death experiences entirely natural. In today's culture wars, where so (interpreted "spiritually"), the existence In "Accommodating Science and many fundamentalists would reverse of the soul, the efficacy of prayer, and Religion," Martin Gardner, James the course of history, this cannot be shroud of Turin "science." None of the Lovelock, Chet Raymo, Matt Young, and emphasized enough. The book is highly claims stand up to critical examination. Paul Kurtz provide concluding com- recommended for all who care about In "Scientific Explanations of Relig- ments on science and religion today. these issues. m:J

so-called Strong Program in the sociolo- A LONG-AWAITED DEFENSE gy of knowledge, which claims to have undermined the idea that science OF REASON advances because of the growth of knowledge discovered in the course of disinterested research. Nola builds a Bill Cooke convincing case that the Strong Pro- gram founders on its failure either to distinguish knowledge from belief, or to Rescuing Reason: A Critique of Anti-Rationalist views of Science and demonstrate any lawlike relationship Knowledge, by Robert Nola (Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer between social circumstances and the Academic Publishers, 2003, ISBN 1-4020-1042-7) 559 pp. Cloth development of scientific beliefs. $198. Paper $48. Nola is similarly ruthless with Foucault, showing that his central thesis of the power/knowledge link is hopeless- escuing Reason is an important Pittsburgh's Center for the Philosophy ly obscure. Foucault, Nola, says, "runs book, being on the one hand a of Science. It now appears as volume with the hares of rational epistemology Rcontribution to the counterattack 230 of the Boston Studies in the and hunts with the hounds of postmod- against the irrationalism and nihilism Philosophy of Science. ernism panting for the blood of rational- that masquerade under the term post- Over the years that Rescuing ity" (p. 369). Like the Strong Program modernism, and on the other hand a Reason was coming together, the coun- sociologists, Foucault fails to distin- valuable restatement and refinement of terattack against postmodernism has guish between knowledge and belief, or naturalist philosophy. been gathering apace. Nola's contribu- between various understandings of This book has had a long gestation, tion is new and important because his knowledge. going back to 1995 when Robert Nola of focus is on the epistemological flaws in Most important, in my view, Nola then the Philosophy Department at the the thinkers on which he has chosen to turns on ietzsche's influential notion of University of Auckland, New Zealand, focus. To take one example, Nola expos- Will to Power which, he argues, is fatally was a visiting fellow at the University of es a tangle of confusions underlying the undermined in many ways, not least by

free inquiry http.y /www.secufarhurnantsm.org its reliance on a Lamarckian evolution- point of the book. Nola also devoted an fallacies of the irrationalists, here Nola ism. Other, even more basic problems are unwarranted amount of space to Karl could have presented us with a rational exposed, such as Nietzsche's sanctioning Marx and Karl Mannheim, at the and philosophically coherent alterna- the need to tell the truth in The Anti- expense of far more relevant figures, in tive, and in so doing, have given the Christ and, in the same year, giving us particular Martin Heidegger. In not book a more positive orientation. permission to lie in The Genealogy 01' tackling Heidegger, Nola could be Less significant, but almost as irri- Morals. And despite his every effort, accused of having let the principal tating, was the regular stream of typing Nietzsche in the end still endorses the authority for contemporary postmod- errors throughout the book, errors that empirical principle of accepting a ernism off the hook, and in so doing would not have been picked up in a hypothesis to the extent that it is made undermining the power and relevance of spell-check, but which needed human probable by the evidence (p. 496). his critique. attention. Nola also shows that each of his sub- Then there is the question of empha- It is perhaps inevitable that Rescuing jects are to some extent beholden to the sis. The book's subtitle gives it a nega- Reason is not bedtime reading. This is a very system of rationality they claim to be tive focus, yet the second and third long, involved, and at times dauntingly debunking. They all posit naturalistic chapters in Part 1 offer an excellent technical book, and it needs a popular accounts of knowledge, but do so in non- defense of naturalism and the reliabilist sequel. Daniel Dennett followed rational ways. While relying on the nor- method theory of knowledge. Reli- Darwin's Dangerous Idea with Kinds mativity of reason, these thinkers claim abilism is a naturalistic method by 01' Minds, where he said much the same to have refuted the normativity of reason. which we can justify our beliefs without thing, but for nonspecialist readers. And All this said, Rescuing Reason is recourse to mysticism or spooks. It Darunn's Dangerous Idea was more unlikely to attract a wide-reading pub- focuses on having a wide range of inter- approachable than Rescuing Reason. lic. The difficulty of the subject matter locking belief-forming processes that Nola should do the same thing, because will account for much of this, but the provide the user with a body of knowl- otherwise his important message will be organization of the book does little to edge in which some confidence can be overlooked. nr help. Why begin the book with a defense expressed. These chapters are included of the rational credentials of Thomas because Nola says it is important to the Bill Cooke is international director 01' Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend? While the book that he can successfully reconcile the Center 1'01' Inquiry, visiting assis- effort with Kuhn was worthwhile and normativity with naturalism. It seemed tant protessor 01' philosophy at the convincing, I found the attempt to res- odd that this section wasn't at the end of University 01' Buttalo, and senior edi- cue Feyerabend tangential to the main the book. Having shown the flaws and tor 01' FREE INQUIRY.

ment: her courage in the face of threats A FULL, FAIR VIEW OF and harassment that not infrequently took on a violent turn; her willingness to MADALYN O'HAIR confront one of America's oldest and most-deeply held prejudices; and her considerable intellect. But her faults Bill Cooke also get a full airing: her divisive per- sonality, her legendary vulgarity, her inability to see the self-defeating nature The Atheist: Madalyn Murray O'Hair, by Bryan F. LeBeau (New of much that she undertook. York and London: New York University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8147- Le Beau had access to O'Hair's 5171-7) 296 pp, Cloth $29.95. diaries, and these help fill out the pic- ture we get of this extraordinary woman. Gone are the cardboard cutouts of "the most hated woman in America" or the heroic matriarch of "the first fam- ily of Atheism." What we get instead is adalyn Murray O'Hair could and work could be as even-handed as so much more interesting. We get a real hardly have dared hope that the Bryan Le Beau's book. O'Hair was so woman with real strengths, weakness- Mfirst full-length study of her life divisive a personality that balanced es, and wants. The picture that emerged opinions of her amount to a rare for me was a sad one. Bill Cooke is a senior editor 01' FREE achievement. Le Beau, professor of his- What I didn't get from this book was a INQUIRY,international director 01' the tory and American Studies at the clear analysis of O'Hair's place in the his- Center 1'01' Inquirs), and visiting University of Missouri-Kansas City, has tory of the freethought movement. It's assistant protessor 01' philosophy at been commendably objective. All of always a problem for authors: How to the University of Buttalo. O'Hair's strengths are given open treat- interweave a biographical narrative of

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003 someone's life with sustained analysis of rating a mention in the index. The many under his correct name, but also under the ideas that motivated that life? Le similarities between McCabe and James M. Robertson. Beau's answer is simply to cut the bio- O'Hair's characters would have provided Once these two analytical chapters graphical narrative off at the end of the valuable insights into O'Hair's character. conclude we return to the biographical third chapter and insert two chapters of But none of this happened because narrative and are on surer ground once analysis. It felt a bit rough and ready, but McCabe was ignored-again. more. Le Beau's coverage of O'Hair's perhaps that's not a major problem. This infuriating oversight is sympto- legal battles, from MU1"rayv. CU1'leU,to More disappointing was the quality of matic of a generally weak analysis of the the flurry of litigation in the late 1970s that analysis. Le Beau correctly men- foundations of O'Hair's atheism. Le Beau and early 1980s, is very well done. tions Robert Green Ingersoll, Charles is content to itemize O'Hair's views Excellent also is the convoluted saga of Bradlaugh, and Chapman Cohen as sig- rather than analyze them or place them the relations between Madalyn and her nificant influences on the development of in any historical context within the eldest son, William, who in 1980 became O'Hair's atheism, but, once again, the stream of freethought history. He makes a fundamentalist preacher. equally significant influence of Joseph very few forays into the original sources, The Atheist: Madalyn Murray McCabe is overlooked. Despite frequent being content to quote them secondhand O'Hair is a rare success. It is very fortu- mentions of McCabe in the American through O'Hair's own works. This weak- nate indeed that someone as divisive as Atheist; despite the trouble O'Hair took ness is most apparent in the case of one O'Hair should have attracted such a to publish a skillful abridgment of two of O'Hair's sources, John M. Robertson humane and objective study as Bryan Le McCabe tracts on atheism and her (1856-1933), the leading historian of Beau's. What is needed now is an intel- reprinting of one of his late works, world freethought. Robertson appears in lectual biography that places her in the McCabe is completely ignored, not even the body of the book and in the index rich stream of freethought history. D1l

extraordinary Black leader Bishop Henry 'THIS FAR BY FAITH'- McNeal Turner. Turner routinely at- tacked White supremacy and told Blacks A SECULAR VIEW to be proud of their African ancestry. He led the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and fought for equality Norm R. Allen, Jr. between the sexes in the church. However, Turner believed in redemp- tive suffering. That is to say, he believed This Far by Faith, executive producer Dante James (Public Broadcasting System (PBS), that God had allowed Blacks to suffer June 24-26, 2003. under slavery and White supremacy so that they could reap the benefits of Christian civilization. (For more on this his Far by Faith, a series pro- Black people. However, the program topic, see Anthony Pinn's excellent book duced for public television that never seriously calls into question the VJlhy, Lord?) Turner believed that the Taired early last summer, explored existence of God. Executive producer Civil War had been God's judgment on the impact of theistic religion on African Dante James is more concerned with the America and that the Union Army was Americans from slavery to the early usefulness of religion to Black people. "God's Army." He saw similarities twenty-first century. The viewer learned Still, the program was very good. between Abraham Lincoln and Jesus. that religion has permeated every Viewers learned a great deal about the Just as Christ had been crucified for his aspect of the lives of people of African heroic freedom fighter Denmark Vesey, effort to save humanity, Lincoln had descent. Near the beginning of the pro- who led an attempted revolt against been assassinated for his effort to end gram, the narrator proclaimed, "... in a slavers before George Wilson and slavery. (Of course, this would make traditional African view of the world, another religious slave betrayed him. Judas and John Wilkes Booth heroes for there is no place where God is not." This predicament aptly illustrates the helping to cleanse the world of its sins Such a view causes humanists to double sword that is the Christian faith. by bringing about the deaths of martyrs. wonder where God was during the On the one hand, some Christians But again, the series' viewers were Middle Passage, lynchings, church believed that their faith was to be used never encouraged to think deeply about bombings, and other crimes against as a vehicle for liberation. Yet other the implications of Black religious Christians were more inclined to accept belief.) Turner's view is problematic to Norm Allen, Jr,. is the executive direc- Christian slave virtues such as loyalty say the very least. It ultimately means tor of African Americans for Human- and obedience to the master. Such mad- that slavery and White supremacy were ism and the editor of The Black dening inconsistencies continue to parts of God's master plan. If such is the Humanist Experience: An Alternative to plague Christians to this day. case, and God is perfectly good, then Religion (Prometheus,2003). Later, viewers were introduced to the slavery and White racism must be

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org m viewed as belonging to a perfectly good The segment on the Reverend Cecil During the Civil Rights movement, divine strategy. As Pinn writes: Williams of Glide Memorial Church in King and others put civil disobedience With all the merits of Turner's Black San Francisco was especially uplifting. into action. Ironically, the entire Civil nationalism, his reliance upon re- Williams is a very progressive minister Rights movement was built in opposi- demptive suffering arguments made it with a church that welcomes the home- tion to the biblical claim that the powers unsustainable. In finding some com- less, gays, the unemployed, and others that be are ordained by God: fort in Black suffering, Turner under- that have been mistreated in society. cut his aggressive Black uplift agenda. Let every person be in subjection to In addition, he created a sense of He has led his church for about forty the authorities. For there is no author- double consciousness (i.e., beautiful years. His emphasis is in the here and ity except from God, and the authori- Black bodies vs. Anglophilic cultural now, not the hereafter. He does not seem ties that exist are established by God. leanings). That is to say, the tension to have much use for traditional theolo- Therefore he who resists authority fostered by Turner's support for has opposed the ordinance of God; blackness while denigrating Black cul- gy or dogma. In an interview in the and they who have opposed will tural markers as less than civilized, July-August 1995 issue of Psychology receive condemnation upon them- served to paralyze liberative [sic] Today, Williams said: selves. (Romans 13:1-2) activity. How does one confirm one's blackness while denying the cultural Had everyone adhered to this holy teach- manifestations of said blackness? ing throughout U.S. history, Blacks (Why,u-ar. p. 56) would still be in physical chains today. During the Civil Rights movement, Though the television program Black people have focused on faith, it should be noted that forty-two churches were bombed. Martin Turner, Frederick Douglass, and other come this far by Luther King, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and others were assassinated. Blacks influential Blacks of the nineteenth cen- faith-and humanistic tury were great admirers of the great were victims of police dogs, racist cops, freethinker Robert Green Ingersoll. values. But it is by no and other White supremacists. Where After Ingersoll's death in 1899, Turner was God? Where were the heavenly published a moving eulogy on Ingersoll means certain that they angels or miracles of a religious nature? in Turner's periodical Voice of have come this far The fact that a religion is useful or prag- Missions. He said that Ingersoll had matic is not necessarily evidence that been superior to 99 percent of Christian with the help of God. God exists. What is religion, after all, but ministers in that he truly loved his a human-driven worldview? neighbor as himself. Many Christians It is true that Christianity had been believed that Ingersoll was doomed to used to free people from slavery and to hell because of his atheism. Turner, The important thing is that people win civil rights for Blacks. But however, believed that White suprema- wrote [great poetry in the Old Christian-sanctioned slavery and the Testament and New Testament]. White racism that it inevitably produced cist Christians were as likely to go to Those were inspirational stories and hell as the civil libertarian Ingersoll. you ['ve] got to see them that way. made the abolition movement and the According to This Far by Faith, If you don't you'lJ get in trouble. So I'm American Civil Rights movement neces- women had their self-esteem affirmed in not going to spend time trying to find sary. The least Christianity could have out whether or not Mary was a virgin. done was to have produced leaders and the church. This is odd, in light of the What do I care about Mary being fact that many Black churches have a virgin? (p. 28) organizations to combat the evils that been rigidly patriarchal and sexist the religion fostered. throughout U.S. history. During the Civil Williams still heads a ministry of Similarly, the same organization that Rights movement, women had often thousands and shows no signs of tiring. made Malcolm X is the same religion complained that they were not being val- Watching This Far by Faith, one that killed him. Such facts create much ued by the male leadership. Today Black gets the impression that civil disobedi- cognitive dissonance in the minds of intellectuals such as bell hooks still com- ence is rooted in religious thought. believers. However, people should be plain about the rampant sexism that However, Henry David Thoreau most made aware of the implications and con- permeates many Black churches. thoughtfully articulated this philosophy sequences of their deeply cherished reli- The program mentioned Langston in his famous nineteenth-century essay gious beliefs. Any belief that leads to or Hughes but not his nonreligious life "Civil Disobedience." Though his ideas encourages human suffering must be stance. Hughes was one of the most were not original, his essay marked the courageously opposed. influential poets of the Harlem Renais- first time that such a viewpoint had Finally, Black people have come this sance. He was regarded as Black been discussed in purely secular terms. far by faith-and humanistic values. America's poet laureate. His poem, Thoreau and most of his friends did not But it is by no means certain that they "I, Too," inspired Martin Luther King's attend church. Indeed, his earliest have come this far with the help of God. famous "I Have a Dream" speech. protest was in support of church-state PBS would perform a great service by Hughes was a great example of a Black separation in 1838. His appeal was not coming out with a program that seeks to person who gave much to the world to the supposed will of God, but to the learn whether God has ever played an without relying upon religion. human conscience. active role, anywhere, at any time. lTIl

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f H October/November 2003

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working two jobs who still manages to BRAVO, get her kids to soccer practice; that's a miracle. A teenager who says no to BRUCE ALMIGHTY drugs and yes to an education; that's a miracle." People are always looking to God to set things right when "the power David Cooper is within you. Be the miracle." As Freeman leaves this scene, Bruce asks, "What if I need you? What if I have Bruce Almighty, Universal Studios, 2002. Starring Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, and Jennifer questions?" Anniston. Directed by Tom Shadyac. Freeman answers, "That's your trou- ble, Bruce. You're always looking up." While this movie sidesteps the hard- was surprised to see some unflatter- didn't like it. Well, bravo to Bruce. er conclusions by merely re-anthropo- ing critiques of the movie Bruce In the movie, God (Morgan Freeman) morphizing God, Freeman's conception IAlmighty from sources normally gives Bruce (Jim Carrey) all his powers gung-ho for godly movies. They weren't for a week. We're not supposed to notice so quick to nail Mel Gibson as a megalo- that omni-science, benevolence, and jus- maniac taking advantage of star status tice aren't among them. Bruce's por- to shove religious beliefs on people in trayal is of a vain, vengeful, petty, and Signs.Yes, Bruce is another attempt to insecure God who manipulates events "God was man's rescue the concept of God rather than only to gain appreciation in the eyes of idea of ideals admit it may be time to chuck it altogeth- others. He lassoes in the moon for a roman- deified, but human tic view to woo his girlfriend, Grace (Jennifer Aniston). Then we see people ideals have evolved devastated by the freak tides this has and transcended caused. He sends a meteor crashing into biblical chimeras. "Bruce's portrayal Earth just so he can be there to catch it and look good for a news report. Then It's time to move on. is of a vain, we see people having to cope with power Bruce Almighty vengeful, petty outages from the event. He pathetically beseeches Grace to "Love me." takes baby steps, and insecure She has had enough, however, of his self-glorification and reminds him, "I but in the right God who did." She prays for help to stop loving direction." manipulates events Bruce, "I don't want to hurt anymore." In effect, Grace is asking a higher God to only to gain free her. Bruce has lost "Grace." appreciation in Bruce must also deal with people's prayers. He only hears those coming the eyes of from Buffalo but is still overwhelmed. oth ers." "What a bunch of whiners," he protests. makes for a good transitional model So he just grants them all. Thousands of that could be more easily, healthfully, people hit the lottery and riot after their and peacefully let go of. After all, if winnings are minimized. Freeman's God really was God, then Fundamentalists rave that the freak that's what He would want, for us to tides, meteorites, and social unrest are grow up and take care of ourselves and signs of the end times. Paranoia adds each other. And isn't that what human- er. But it raises the bar for believers, too, more mayhem to the streets. In the mid- ists want too? by contrasting the trite biblical (per)ver- dle of the chaos is a homeless man, Another sign God carries reads: sion into a more liberal, or even libertar- whom we find out later is God in dis- "Armageddon outta here." Maybe that's ian, idea of God. Aha! So that's why some guise, holding up a sign saying, "Thy just what is finally happening. God was KingDUMB Come." Is the turmoil what man's idea of ideals deified, but human David Cooper is a urriter, social we could expect if God really was as bib- ideals have evolved and transcended activist, and a member of the licalliteralists want us to believe? biblical chimeras. It's time to move on. Humanist Friendship GTOUp of God explains to Bruce that Bible- Bruce Almighty takes baby steps, but CentralIndiana. style miracles are just tricks. "A mom in the right direction. D1l

free inquiry http)lwww.secularhumanism.org m what the reaction would have been had White members of City Council walked out the first The Day the time an African American got up to speak or if Christians had walked out of an invocation given by a rabbi. The entire community would have been properly outraged. I pointed out Charleston City that many in our nontheistic community were Council Walked Out Before Herb Silverman could open a Charleston City Herb Silverman Council meeting with a secular e all want secular humanists to have Council on March 25, 2003. He told me he was invocation, half the a place at the table of public opinion. very religious and would not want me to say council members WAnd we all want to separate govern- anything negative about religion. I agreed to ment from religion. But what do we do when honor his request. walked out of these "wants" conflict? When we confront an On the appointed day, when Mayor Riley established structure that intertwines govern- introduced me to start the meeting with my the room. ment with religion, do we try to tear it down or invocation, half the City Council members to add our viewpoint to it? My answer is an stood up and walked out of the room. This was unqualified, "It depends." not the kind of rude behavior one would expect working hard to promote a message that our I live in the heart of the Bible Belt, in in Charleston, which [or the past two years had deeds should be more important than our Charleston, South Carolina. Tour guides point won a national poll as the most "polite" city in creeds, and that dogmas should never over- proudly to the intersection known as the Four the United States. The mayor asked everyone ride our compassion for others. Corners of Law. It is said that the corners to rise for my "prayer." After I finished my invo- The media always like controversy, so belong to the city (City Hall), state (the jail), cation (which need not be a prayer, and was- this was a good opportunity to get our mes- the federal government (the U.S. courthouse), n't), the missing council members returned in sage out. One council member was quoted in and God (a church). Charleston's nickname is time to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. the paper as saying that an atheist giving an the "Holy City"; many residents feel that God's invocation was an affront to our troops in law trumps all others and is above criticism. AN OPPORTUNITY TO EDUCATE Iraq, who were fighting for our principles based on God. On a radio talk-show with him, A request by constituents that the Initially, I was quite disappointed by this Charleston City Council end its tradition of I mentioned that the Taliban felt the same overt sign of disrespect. But as a firm believ- starting meetings with a prayer would likely way and that we were not in a holy war. I said er in the law of unintended consequences, I require divine intervention to fulfill. So the that we are a secular country under a secular knew that lemonade might be squeezed from Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry; a constitution and that we should concentrate these lemons. The organized walkout vividly Council for Secular Humanism affiliate, chose our efforts on finding human solutions to demonstrated that nontheists are engaged in a different approach. We are one of over fifty problems humans have created. When I told one of the last civil rights struggles in which groups that are members of the South him that many conflicts in the world are blatant discrimination is viewed as accept- Carolina Progressive Network, which spon- caused by people who don't listen to other able behavior. sored a "Meet the Candidates" forum prior to points of view, he responded by saying that When asked to name effective civil rights a recent City Council election. Each network he didn't have to listen to this diatribe and activists of the 1960s, Martin Luther King and group submitted one question to all the can- hung up. My final comment on the show was didates. This was ours: "As you know, City Malcolm X come to mind. But we must not that the councilman had just eloquently Council starts meetings with a prayer. Since ignore Bull Conner. As police chief of proved my point. you w.illrepresent all of your constituents, not Birmingham, Alabama, he ordered police dogs Another councilman said, "He can wor- just those who are religious believers, w.illyou and fire hoses to be turned on peaceful civil ship a chicken if wants to, but I'm not going consider periodically allowing nonbelievers to rights marchers. Whites in Birmingham to be around when he does it." I responded in give the invocation?" became so embarrassed by the world's reac- the paper that many of us who stand politely In response, candidate Kwadjo Campbell tion that soon the city desegregated. for religious invocations believe that praying invited me to give the invocation to the City Movements are successful when they to a god makes no more sense than praying appeal to folks outside the group. The goal to a chicken. I said that bigotry exists every- Herb Silverman is Distinguished Pro- for us is not just to drum up support among where, but it is especially outrageous when fessor of Mathematics at the College of fellow secular humanists, though such grass- acts of intolerance at government functions Charleston, where he was founder and roots activism is crucial, but to appeal to are organized, carried out, and later defend- advisor to the Atheist/Humanist Alliance everyone's sense of fair play and tolerance. ed in the media by government officials. student group. He is president of the We need to capitalize effectively on disgrace- I contacted the council members who had Secular Humanist of the Low Country. His ful behavior, whether by the Birmingham walked out. One said she was influenced by a 1997 Supreme Court victory allows athe- police or by the Charleston City Council. biblical quote another council member read ists there to hold public office. I asked the mayor if he could imagine to her. When I asked for the quote, she said

m http://www.secularhumanism.org f EJ October/November 2003 she couldn't remember it. So I called her col- more favorable light than that of Christians. tion to quoting the passage calling all atheists league and he cited Psalm 14:1: "The fool The one negative letter said, "It is about time fools, I offered another little-known verse in says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are that Christians let the world feel the weight of support of the walkout. This is from 2 corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is not one our faith and have them deal with it." Corinthians 6:14-15: "Believers must not com- who does good." I also heard from many Christians who mune with unbelievers. What fellowship hath I then called the first council member back, repudiated what they called the "un- righteousness with unrighteousness, light with quoted the passage, and asked if she thought I Christian" behavior of the City Council. I darkness, believers with infidels?" Incidentally, was a corrupt and vile fool. She quickly apolo- thought the council members were indeed this is a wonderful citation when debating fun- gized for her behavior and admitted she representative of a large number of Chris- damentalists. How can they justify continuing should have stayed for the invocation. She and tians, but who am I to get in the way when the debate? several others said they were sorry about Christians bash Christians? Nearly two hun- I ended my op-ed with a commentary hurting me and that it was not personal. dred messages about the walkout were post- about a favorite biblical passage for many of I responded that I knew it could not have ed on a Christian forum Web site, most of us, Matthew 6:5-6: "When you pray, be not been personal because they did not know me them favorable. One Christian asked if a min- like the hypocrites who love to pray standing personally. I added that I would have been less ister should be allowed to give an invocation in the synagogues and in the corners of the upset had the walkout been personal. My goal at an atheist meeting. Another Christian streets, that they may be seen of men. When was not to be loved by council members, but for responded: "This is the beginning of a city you pray, go into the closet, shut the door, them to listen to a segment of the community council meeting, not a church service. A city and pray to thy Father in secret." I combined they represent. I got no response to my ques- council meeting is not Christian 'space.' It's this verse with a phrase from a Roger Ebert tion about whether they would have so insult- not atheist 'space,' either. It's secular space. piece published on March 6 in the Chicago ed any other law-abiding portion of society. Government belongs to everyone." Sun-Times. It seems my best hope for end- We all know the Sherlock Holmes story ing prayer at City Council meetings: PuBLIC REACTION about the importance of the dog that didn't Please permit an atheist to give an inter- Dozens of people, secular and otherwise, bark. What about the importance in newspa- pretation of this passage. I think it distin- wrote letters to the editor of our local paper to pers of the letter that didn't get printed? So guishes between vertical and horizontal prayer. Vertical prayer is directed upward express outrage over the walkout. The April 5 many letters came to my local newspaper that and can be done silently. Horizontal prayer letters to the editor page was devoted to the they were compelled to print a number of them. must be audible because it is meant to be walkout. Of the seven letters printed, only one I was also afforded the opportunity to publish heard by other humans. May I suggest a defended the walkout. This was six times the an op-ed about the walkout (http://charleston. way [01' Charleston City Council to become more inclusive without offending anyone? greatest number of letters ever printed in a net/stories/041403/com _14silverman. shtml), Start each meeting with a moment of single day that put an atheist's behavior in a where I cited several biblical passages. In addi- silence. Oil r Invocation to the Charleston City Council Herb Silverman

Thank you for this opportunity to we have to equal freedom of con- all who live in this city, may you "invoke" a minority point of view. science for all people. We are gathered draw strength and sustenance from Each of us is a minority in some way. today;both religious and secular mem- one another through reason and It might be race, religion, sexual ori- bel'Sof our community.with the shared compassion. entation, nationality, or any other belief that we must treat our fellow I'd like to close in a bipartisan aspect in which we may be regarded human beings with respect and dignity. manner by quoting from two presi- as different. Each of us is also part of In this invocation, I don't ask you dents I greatly admire-one a some majority. It is when we wear our to close your eyes, but to keep your Republican and the other a Democrat. majority hats that we need to be most eyes constantly open to the serious First, the Republican: "When I do mindful of how we treat others. We problems that city government can good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel must pledge our best efforts to help solve or improve. I don't ask you to bad. That is my religion." one another, and to defend the rights bow your heads, but to look up at -Abraham Lincoln of all of our citizens and residents. what you can accomplish by applying And now, the Democrat: "It's What divides us is not so much our your considerable talents and expert- remarkable how much you can religious differences in this diverse ence to the issues that confront us. accomplish if you don't care who gets ~omtcy, bot the degree of commitment As you work together on behalf_o_f__ t_h_e._c_reilit." -Harry 8 Truman~

free inquiry http://www.secularhumanism.org m One Nation Without God! Secularism, Society, and Justice Now hear the key proceedings from the outstanding Council for Secular Humanism's April 2003 conference.

INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS SPEAKERS # OF TAPES PRICE QUANTITY SUBTOTAL Hncludes S&HI 1. "Can't Get Respect: Media Roundtable" C. Hitchens, N. Henloff, S. Jacoby 2 tapes $20.90

2. "Spreading Gospel With Your Buck" Barry Lynn 1 tope $10.45 3. "Secular Humanism and Politics" Paul Kurlz 1 lope $10.45 4. "Who Fans the Flames of Hatred?" E. Buckner, R. Boslon, M. Downey 2 tapes $20.90 5. Keynote Address Chrislopher Hilchens 1 tape $10.45 6. "Will Islam Enter the 21 st Century?" I. Warraq, P. Hoodbhoy, A. Kamguian, el.al 2 tapes $10.45 Sessions 6 and 7 are provided at a 50% discount. Technical difficulties during recording resulted in high levels of background noise on this session. Because of the importance of this material, we have chosen to offer it at a discount rather than to withhold the session entirely. Extensive digital and analog processing has been applied to make the voices as clear as possible. listeners using good quality speakers or headphones should be able to follow the presentations. 7. "International Humanism" B. Cooke, C. Coon 2 lopes $10.45 8. Banquet Awards and comedy by Julia Sweeney 1 tape $10.45 9. "Unbelievers and Political Discrimination" T. Flynn, E. Tabash, M. Newdow 2 tapes $20.90

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